An insurance company, Marsh & McLennan, invested most of the time in problem solving and its innovations were unexpected or an outcome of an extreme situation only. To deal with this, Marsh employed Ben Allen to shift the focus of the company from problem solving to innovation.
Allen’s prime focus was not immediate problems rather it was the existing best practices. He set up collaboration platforms within the operating companies, which helped in sharing the initiatives and the areas of concern. Allen came up with a strategy to train the organization to seek for internal best practices. He streamlined the research abilities to recognize the needs of the customers which were not met.A learning and coaching program was raised which gathered the data of the good work that the product and service delivery teams were already doing to promote innovation. Marsh considerably improved its innovation capabilities by developing the existing working and connecting elements of the process.
Clarity is very important to grow on any change and for this reason the existing best practices in the organization are of great significance. It is not easy to accept and incorporate changes. Since problem solving is the primary concern; therefore, challenges like compliance and regulations are inevitable. For this reason, internal best practices of innovation are of great importance. At the time of change, these should be the focus to create opportunities.
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