Synopses & Reviews
Unleashing Innovation
In 1999, Whirlpool was undergoing a company-wide reorganization to meet the demands of the post-globalization marketplace. To succeed in executing their transformative Brand-Focused Value-Creation strategy, Whirlpool needed to be both operationally excellent and innovative.
In publications such as BusinessWeek and Fast Company, the media have celebrated Whirlpool's transformation into a leading-edge innovator and Nancy Tennant Snyder's role as chief innovation officer. Ten years after this remarkable transformation, Unleashing Innovation tells the inside story of one of the most successful innovation turnarounds in American history. Nancy Tennant Snyder and coauthor Deborah L. Duarte reveal how Whirlpool undertook one of the largest change efforts in corporate history and show how innovation was embedded throughout the company, which ultimately led to bottom-line results.
Unleashing Innovation is filled with illustrative examples from Whirlpool and Whirlpool's cutting-edge brands including Jenn-Air, Bauknecht, KitchenAid, and Brastemp. Snyder and Duarte reveal the inner workings of Whirlpool's innovation machine, a framework that creates consistent and profitable innovation by involving all of Whirlpool's employees, and they debunk the myth that innovation comes only from the geniuses at the top. Rather than a cookie-cutter "how to" manual, Unleashing Innovation shows what happens when an organization creates a machine that involves everyone and fosters an environment that puts the emphasis on "learning and creating, dreaming, the mythology of heroes, and the spirit of winning." Unleashing Innovation shows how the engine of its innovation can be adapted to run in any business of any size and captures the steps the company took along the way, the key learnings, the tools used, the challenging setbacks, and the critical successes.
Synopsis
Nancy Snyder is the Chief Innovation Officer at Whirlpool Corporation, where she has been since 1999. With Snyder at the helm Whirlpool has recently undergone one of the most successful innovation turnarounds in corporate history. This is both an account of how that took place, and a guide for leaders and managers to develop innovation strategies within their own companies.
Snyder’s method was to build innovation throughout every level of the Whilrpool organization, not just from the executive team or from R&D. When she started there the appliance industry was in a slump and WP had a reputation for stodginess. They made a conscious decision to turn this around and currently Whirlpool runs the most cutting edge brands in major and minor appliances – including Jenn-Air, Amana, KitchenAid and most recently merged with Maytag.
Underlying the ideas put forth in the book is that people at every walk of life can innovation and that human nature drives people to create. This book shows how any company can build innovation into every employee’s day to day job function, how to work on a macro level to embed innovation into company systems and business models and how to peg innovation to the bottom line.
Synopsis
In publications such as BusinessWeek and Fast Company, the media have celebrated Whirlpool's transformation into a leading-edge innovator and Nancy Tennant Snyder's role as chief innovation officer. Ten years after this remarkable transformation, Unleashing Innovation tells the inside story of one of the most successful innovation turnarounds in American history. Nancy Tennant Snyder and coauthor Deborah L. Duarte reveal how Whirlpool undertook one of the largest change efforts in corporate history and show how innovation was embedded throughout the company, which ultimately lead to bottom-line results.
Synopsis
Praise for Unleashing Innovation
"I know of no other company that has embraced the challenge of innovation as completely and successfully as Whirlpool. Starting with the goal of making innovation everyone's job, every day, Whirlpool has worked systematically to embed the innovation gene in its employees, its executive ranks, and in every management process. Whirlpool's efforts have been widely celebrated, and now Nancy Tennant Snyder takes us inside to reveal exactly what it takes to make innovation a genuine core competence. Her detailed account, and the many, practical lessons she provides, is essential reading for twenty-first-century business leaders."
Professor Gary Hamel, founder, Strategos; director, Management Lab
"This tell-all book will not only show you how to successfully reinvent a business through innovation, it will inspire you to write in its margins, preach its gospel, and hang its pages on the walls of your office. Snyder and Duarte masterfully capture not only the process of innovation but also the spirit of innovation. As witnesses to one of history's most successful business transformations, the authors tell it straight, from the inside out, and with just the right balance of theory and practice. You may buy this book for its practical applications, but you will remember it for its inspiration. Old dogs can learn new tricks."
Andrew Razeghi, adjunct associate professor, creativity and innovation, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University; author, The Riddle: Where Ideas Come From and How to Have Better Ones
About the Author
Nancy Tennant Snyder is corporate vice president for leadership and strategic competencies for Whirlpool Corporation, reporting to the chairman and CEO, Jeff M. Fettig. BusinessWeek named her one of twenty-five Innovation Champions in the world.
Deborah L. Duarte is a consultant who is an expert in the areas of innovation strategy, leadership and executive development, organizational design, project leadership, virtual teaming, and executive coaching.
Snyder and Duarte have coauthored twobest-selling books: Mastering Virtual Teamsand Strategic Innovation, both from Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Jeff Fettig.
Preface.
Introduction.
PART ONE: THE ANATOMY OF INNOVATION.
1. Embedded Innovation in Action.
2. Structuring and Sustaining Innovation: The Rational Framework and Emotional Drivers.
PART TWO: RATIONAL DRIVERS.
3. The Strategic Architecture.
4. Management Systems.
5. The Innovation Pipeline.
6. Innovation Mentors.
7. Managing Execution and Results.
PART THREE: EMOTIONAL DRIVERS.
8. Learn.
9. Dream.
10. Create.
11. Heroes.
12. Spirit.
Conclusion: The Innovation Journey.
Epilogue: Dragons Be Here.
References.
Acknowledgments.
The Authors.
Index.