Can innovation really bring more than small improvements and efficiency gains? Absolutely – provided we dare to dream and look beyond the short term. According to Marlene de Koning – specialist in HR technology, data, and GenAI – this balance between innovation with immediate results and future-oriented innovation requires visionary leadership, the courage to take risks, and an organisational culture that encourages creativity and experimentation.
Let humans and technology work together
AI is changing our work, and technological innovation is creating many new opportunities. Meanwhile, the decline in the workforce due to aging will impact the productivity and market share of companies. This raises urgent new questions: How do we let humans and technology work together as effectively as possible in our organisation? And how can we achieve more with the same people? Innovations that primarily speed up processes in the short term will not compensated for this loss. It is necessary to think strategically and in a future-oriented manner about which processes are really needed so that your organisation is prepared for the impact of these demographic shifts.
Take recruitment, for example. In many organisations, this process consists of countless steps. But potential employees increasingly expect a personalized experience instead of a uniform approach. It is very likely that technology can take over part of the tasks, allowing you to add extra personal (customer) contact with the same people – in fewer or different process steps.
Focus on the long term
Within every organisation, there are processes that are suboptimal. Thanks to technology like AI, we discover new possibilities to make improvements in these processesquickly and relatively easily. And so, we rush to score with new tools like ChatGPT or CoPilot for productivity increases, cost reductions, or process optimizations. These are meaningful short-term innovations aimed at immediate results.
But if an organisation focuses its innovation only on quick results, it often comes at the expense of long-term innovation. Short-term innovation is essentially an efficiency gain, while lasting transformation of a sector or company takes place through future-oriented innovation. This involves not only focusing on adjustments to existing processes or marginal improvements but also questioning whether a specific process is even necessary. Examining your organisation gives you the opportunity to reassess or reinvent processes or even your entire business model. If you want your organisation to remain relevant in the future and avoid being overtaken by disruptions in your sector, it is important to focus on the long term now.
Develop visionary leadership
Long-term innovation requires vision and couragebecause major changes are not without risk: it always involves making choices without knowing the outcome in advance. Yet that is exactly what innovative companies do. They choose to invest now – without knowing exactly what it will bring them – and possibly invent the wheel for their market. Netflix is, in my opinion, the ultimate example. Although the company initially generated its revenue by renting DVDs, they still invested in the transformation to a streaming service. Others thought they were crazy and stubbornly continued to invest in the familiar DVDs. But at that time, the CEO, Reed Hastings, envisioned a future where streaming might replace DVDs. He showed visionary leadership and dared to pursue his vision, indispensable qualities in future-oriented innovation. Take a step back and look at your organisation from a distance. What does the sector or industry you are active in look like in the future, next year, or in five years? Where is the real potential in your organisation, especially in relation to the future picture you envision? Do you want your company to operate the same way in the future as it does now? Choose consciously which direction your company will take.
Work on your organisational culture
Innovation does not only flourish under visionary leadership but also requires a culture that encourages change and experimentation. A culture that provides the necessary psychological safety and space to try new things and take risks. If organisations value asking questions, creativity, and learning ability, they inspire their employees to share ideas and insights. See failure as learning for the next innovation, or embrace a 'growth mindset' as a company, a fundamental attitude that assumes the possibility of growth. In this regard, I have experienced Microsoft as an example: an organisation where the culture of continuous learning and innovation leads to significant progress in Cloud and AI.
Do you notice unrest or fear about AI in your organisation? Then consider training employees to see how technology not only helps your organisation but also helps an individual employee. And make sure you invite not only the enthusiasts but also colleagues with questions or resistance. HR can play a significant role in this cultural and mindset change that is needed in many organisations.
Two pieces of advice
- Let short- and long-term innovation go hand in hand and remember Amara's Law.
Amara's Law states that we tend to overestimate the short-term effects of technology, expecting immediate golden mountains, while underestimating the long-term impact. Try to find a balance and not get lost in quick wins. See where you can make your organisation meaningfully more efficient now, while also focusing on profound change for the future with a visionary perspective. - Base choices on the right data.
AI is about predictive models, and they are only as good or as bad as the data they are based on. Make sure your data is in order: complete, accurate, and representative. Do you want to conduct an AI productivity measurement or adoption experiment? Then start with small-scale, scalable experiments before deploying AI solutions company-wide. Too many companies go wrong by making 'data-driven decisions' based on data that is far too sparse.
Commissioned by the World Economic Forum (WEF), PwC, led by Marlene de Koning, researched how GenAI can contribute to the deepening, renewal, and broadening of work. Download the report
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