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WAZOKU EVENT: Differentiated Innovation: putting the customer at the heart of your innovation strategy

Wazoku’s EveryDay Innovation series returns with its next event on 18th November: Differentiated Innovation: putting the customer at the heart of your innovation strategy.

Innovation is vital to business success but, comprehensively engaging all stakeholders, as well as managing and executing strategies are common obstacles to harnessing its benefits.

Cris Beswick, co-author of Building a Culture of Innovation (shortlisted for the CMI’s management book of the year) says: “Innovation is like teenage sex; everyone talks about it, nobody really knows to how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it!” 

The event, taking place in Hoxton on 18th November, will be led by panellists Richard Potter, innovation and digital transformation leader at Spora Steria; Richard Wilkinson, innovation manager at Aviva; and Gareth Morgan, programme director – technology at Fidelity.

Crowdsourcing company Wazoku launched its Everyday Innovation series in 2015 with the release of The New Innovation Conversation, a comprehensive survey of the state of company innovation, and an event led by Matt Asman, senior manager of global services innovation at Cisco; Stuart Eames, operational improvement manager at Waitrose; and Cris Beswick, strategic advisor on innovation and co-author of Building a Culture of Innovation. The talks focused on the EveryDay Innovation framework that enables organisations to implement a culture of innovation, making it everyone’s responsibility, in every function, everyday.

Wazoku’s New Innovation Conversation survey, which gathered responses from more than 1,000 board members, senior managers, middle managers and everyday workers within large enterprises across the UK found that despite innovation being the number one pillar of company culture, it risks being abused and overused. More than 90% of survey respondents said improving customer experience and reducing costs were two of the most strategic objectives for employees. Against this backdrop, 85% agreed these areas could be improved through more innovative ideas and approaches but almost the same proportion of those surveyed felt that ambiguity around innovation meant this benefit is unlikely to ever be realised.

These headline findings highlight the importance of careful innovation management; the need for best practice when it comes to communicating and executing new ideas.

The 18th November discussion will explore Differentiated Innovation: understanding what it is and why it could be the missing piece in your innovation strategy. Practical advice will be given on how to implement an innovation strategy that encourages individuals in every department to look for new and better ways to solve customer problems and needs. The panellists will provide real-life case studies via examples and strategies for co-creating new solutions and experiences with stakeholders. 

Details
Date: 18th November 2016
Time: 9.00 – 11.30am
Location: 33-25 Hoxton Square, London, N1 6NN 

Click here to Register for the Differentiated Innovation event.

About Wazoku
Wazoku, a Fig portfolio company, provides cloud-based idea management software to enable companies to crowdsource meaningful outcomes aligned to business objectives by engaging team members, partners and customers.

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