Innovation Isn’t ‘Creativity,’ It’s a Discipline You Manage

Innovation, like “quality,” is one of those notions that’s fuzzy to a lot of managers. If it’s hard to measure, it can be hard to think about. But Esther Baldwin is out to change that.

In her 20+ years at Intel Corporation, Baldwin has launched the Innovation Center in Shanghai, China, and built global data centers in Japan, the UK, and US. Now, as research proliferation manager in Intel’s future technologies research organization, her focus is on introducing ways for companies to use information technology more smartly in filtering, capturing, and analyzing innovation ideas. She argues that innovation can be comprehensively managed as an organization-wide discipline—and that companies that who succeed at it will find unexpected opportunities for growth.

Baldwin spoke with MIT Sloan Management Review’s editor-in-chief Michael S. Hopkins.

You’ve written that innovation can be managed as a discipline. Let’s start with that.

I think that there’s a lack of understanding for the potential of innovation and information technology innovation. There’s such an opportunity to create breakthrough systems, to fuel growth, to completely transform the ways that companies are managing themselves on the front end and the back end of their processes.

Traditionally, people think innovation is just about creativity, about being able to create ideas. In fact, it’s a very disciplined area. Companies really can manage innovation in the ways that they manage quality.

The opportunity is to use IT innovation to manage overall innovation?

Definitely. Innovation, as a pure discipline, is the management of the process from cradle to grave. You go from observing a need to coming up with an idea, developing prototypes, and proving your theories. These lead to shifts in design and development, manufacturing, production, marketing, even in refining the business model.

IT innovation, on the other hand, allows you to take advantage of leaps in technology. It allows you to use tools to become more productive, to work faster, cheaper, smarter.