Why your innovations are not working? Because they are not anchored in reality.

Innovation is today regarded as the holy grail of every corporate strategy. You can find it in values, presentations, and corporate slogans. However, most companies do not genuinely want to innovate. 
They want to appear to innovate. Does that sound harsh? But let’s look at reality – most "innovation activities" end up in a dead end. Not because there are no ideas, but because there is a lack of courage and urgency to actually change something. 

Why? Because..... 

1. The system defends itself 

Corporations are masters of stability. They are designed to protect the status quo, not to threaten it. 
Every new idea must fight its way through layers of processes, priorities, budgets, and politics. 
And because most organizations lack the built-in capability to manage innovation, every attempt at change ends before it even takes a breath. Innovation is like an immune response. The system recognizes it as a foreign element and tries to eliminate it. 

2. The myth of "big ideas" 

Most organizations are still looking for the "big idea." However, in an environment that is not prepared to absorb innovations, every big idea is doomed to fail. The problem is not with creativity – it lies in infrastructure, culture, and priorities. Most companies do not suffer from a lack of ideas, but from a lack of commitment to see them through. 

3. The absence of urgency kills innovation 

The fundamental problem is not that people cannot innovate. The problem is that no one feels true pressure to do so. Innovations often become a “side project”: something we do when there is time left. 
However, viable innovations never arise from an abundance of time, but from a sense of threat or ambition. When nothing is burning, management has no reason to take risks. When things are going well, experimentation seems unnecessary. When a crisis comes, it’s already too late. Successful companies innovate not because they planned it, but because they created internal pressure before the external one arrived. 

How to anchor innovation in reality 

Anchoring innovation means teaching the system to overcome its own defensive reflexes. 
 
Here are 7 specific principles that work: 

1. Connect vision with discipline 

Most innovation programs either float in chaos (“let’s just create”), or drown in Excel spreadsheets. However, there is one warning: “Vision without discipline is wishful thinking; discipline without vision kills innovation.” Success comes when leadership holds a clear ambition (“10% of turnover from new products within 3 years”), while also demanding data, milestones, and accountability. Innovation must be managed as strictly as finance – just with a different tolerance for failure. 

2. Manage innovation activities like an investment portfolio 

Successful companies manage portfolios of ideas with varying risk and return – just like an investment fund. 70% of initiatives improve the core business, 20% develop adjacent areas, and 10% target transformational changes. This is how innovation becomes a part of the strategy, not a disruptive activity. The portfolio brings balance – between safety and courage, between certainty and breakthrough. 

3. Start with the things that annoy you, not just trendy ideas 

Every innovation project must be based on a real problem, not inspired by a conference. 
Look for recurring problems, losses, inefficiencies that hurt the business. Tie the project to a specific KPI or P&L – this creates natural urgency. 

4. Give innovation activities a real owner 

Innovation without an owner is a hobby. Identify a business owner who has both the authority and responsibility – and whose evaluation depends on results, not participation. Involve people from operations from the start – those who create the system can also change it. 

5. Set boundaries 

Instead of large budgets, create a “pilot fund” – small experiments with clear limits on time and money. Constraints increase creativity and speed. Make decisions in binary terms: stop / revise / scale. 

6. Maintain momentum and attention 

Establish a monthly Innovation review board where management discusses specific projects and makes decisions. Not for control, but to keep the tension between vision and reality alive and visible. Without pressure from above, innovation will drown in priorities.

7. Reward courage, not just success 

Innovation is not a competition for the best idea, but for the greatest willingness to take risks and learn. Show that an experiment that ends in failure has value. Otherwise, people will choose certainty – and the system will win. Demand insights that provide visibility into areas that have been explored and what the organization has learned from it. 

The system only changes from within 

Innovation is not just about post-its, hackathons, or slogans, that is just the beginning. What matters is whether the organization has enough courage to go against its own gravity. Every company says it wants to innovate. Very few are willing to pay the price that innovation truly costs. And that is where the difference lies between those who declare innovation and those who actually conduct it.  

Innovations fail because the system protects itself. Because there is a lack of pressure, courage, and urgency. And until the company starts to see innovation as a matter of survival, not reputation, nothing will change. 

We will help you find out how strong your ability to innovate is – contact us and we will look at it together.