Methodologies for thinking and development processes
According to Thnk.org, not every risk has the same severity, or has the same probability of occurrence. Where some risks can easily disrupt an organization and are a cause for real concern, others should not keep you awake at night. In order to distinguish between different types of risks we propose the following framework:
LOW PROBABILITY — LOW-IMPACT RISKS: TO BE IGNORED
Risks that have a low likeliness to occur and low potential impact are not worth spending much, if any, time on. Examples of this risk are the risk of a running a flat tire on your way to a client meeting or missing a flight due to an unexpected strike of airport staff. Apart from taking standard precautions like regular maintenance on your car or checking the airline website for any cancellations in advance, there is nothing one should do. Though a pain when they do occur, consequences can be avoided through simple apologies or rescheduling.
LOW PROBABILITY — HIGH-IMPACT RISKS: TO BE INSURED
Risks that have a high potential impact, but a low probability can often be averted through insurance. This is desirable when the benefits of insurance are likely to outweigh the costs. Insurance roughly covers risks in three categories: assets and property insurance (e.g., damage due to natural hazards, fire, theft or vandalism), human capital insurance (risks of incapacitation/injury or death of staff), and liability insurance (mitigating the risk of legal claims arising from the usage of your product or services). As said, the essence of insurance is that the likeliness of occurrence of the insured event is low, as risks with a high probability usually command an unattractively high premium from the insurer. We notice many entrepreneurs feel too busy or too optimistic to insure against this category of risks.
HIGH PROBABILITY — LOW-IMPACT RISKS: TO BE AVERTED
These risks, due to their low severity, are as inconvenient as they are avertable. Examples of risk in this category are a key team member becomes ill just before an important deadline; a computer crashes with all the customer data information. These risks are often the result of what some people refer to as ‘Murphy’s law’: that which can go wrong, will go wrong. The root cause for these inconveniences is often lack of foresight or preparation. If your margin for error is small or null, problems will occur. If you build in safety margins and back-up capacities, things don’t boil down to the last moment, and your flexibility to resolve an unforeseen situation improves drastically.
HIGH PROBABILITY — HIGH-IMPACT RISKS: TO ADAPT TO
The risks in the final quadrant are of key concern for innovation leadership (and any existing business), as they are too costly to insure and cannot simply be ignored or averted due to their severity. These risks are the real company killers, often tapping into the core beliefs and (informed or non-informed) assumptions that businesses have built their product or services on. All elements of the enterprise (market, competition, leadership, operations, legal, finance) are exposed to such risks.
Ensuring the right skill sets are in place to ensure timely delivery at the right quality level represents a serious challenge and in turn a substantial risk as well. More often than not, innovation leaders set ambitious goals for the delivery, unaware of the real operational implications, underlying time constraints, unforeseen setbacks and complications in designing, selling, manufacturing, shipping and servicing a product or service. Some innovation leaders even falsely believe in “self-fulfilling operational prophecies”; they believe that impossible operational targets motivate the organization to do the impossible and surpass all expectations. In fact, operations need at least a similar amount of attention and quality of thinking as concept development. Therefore, operations need to be organized to be a competitive strength, rather than a risk factor.
Issues about intellectual property rights, patents or brand names can lead to lawsuits and substantial claims that can kill any business or lead to costly delays in market penetration. In turn, the procedures of patenting or obtaining approval or certification can take precious amounts of time and resources.
One of the inherent virtues of innovation leadership is that the excitement of the opportunity outweighs the perceived risks of loss and failure. Without that zeal many innovations would never have seen the light of day. Identifying opportunity and spreading unbridled enthusiasm characterizes the innovative CEO or entrepreneur. Becoming over-cautious and risk-averse would take away the zeal and spirit of a company.
As such, risk mitigation is first a balancing act, a matter of balancing rationality and the excitement of opportunity. You are looking to have a constant awareness of potential risks and the basic precautions that often suffice to contain the risks that could cause major harm to a business, but without ‘killing’ the entrepreneur. Not everyone can perform both roles. So if managing risk is not your forte, find a skilled CFO. He or she can be your conscience when it comes to striking the right balance. As financial risks more or less underpin all the other risks, it is of crucial importance to have a professional guardian in place to safeguard these anyway. Now you can consciously use the thinking of your CFO to perform your balancing act.
In conclusion, being able to distinguish between ignorable, insurable and real risks and then take appropriate action can improve your innovation leadership and also improve the potential for success of your venture. Apart from taking the necessary precautions and striking the right balance between zeal and rationality in your leadership team, risks can be embraced and reframed as opportunities for improving. This requires quick reflexes and a continuous drive to embrace market feedback to improve the product or service as quickly as possible. Risk cannot be eliminated altogether and even if it could, it shouldn’t be, as experience with failure is a real predictor of success in innovation leadership.
Source: https://www.thnk.org/insights/risks-in-innovation-leadership-talent/
Workshop Challenge
Selected concept:
Concept 1: using old media in new ways (out-of-the box ideas)
I have chosen to take this approach as its very eye-catching and different from what has been done before. This is the first time that the Nissan Brand launches the next generation EV and, the first time in the Kingdom of Bahrain.
This route is about using old media in new ways. Prior to launch, there shall be teaser videos about the Ariya for a few days via social media Nissan accounts. The billboard execution is a special operation. The press ad is also a special execution with illuminating paper, metallic blue Pantone and spot UV around the ring around the car and charging station. The creation of the in-mall and outdoor activations is created by building different platforms and letting customers experience new things. The customers will experience the feeling of spending a day with the Ariya for a total new experience through test-drives. The outdoor activation shall take place near Bahrain Bay from day to night. Bahrain Bay is situated on coastal land adjacent to the original business and political area in the heart Bahrain’s capital city Manama. Bahrain Bay offers spacious, state-of-the-art high-rise office and residential units along with major five-star hotels which are set in their own exclusive domains within the complex. Attractive landscaping has facilitated wide open public boulevards with waterfront recreational facilities and amenities which conveniently surround some of the tallest office buildings in Bahrain.
Following the Bahrain Bay location, the in-mall activation shall mainly take part in the Avenues Mall (newest mall in Bahrain) which has restaurants and cafes overlooking the bay. The in-mall stands will be produced differently with an actual charger and the car will be turned ON to show its interior features directly. Promoters will be all around to take customers through explaining the Nissan Intelligent Mobility features. The brand videos playing on the background will be eye-catching. VR technology shall be used to take you through the whole interior of the car and a driving experience like no other while inside the mall on the stand itself. There are also LIVE test drive sessions outside the mall to take you through the city and experience it all. LIVE test drive sessions are pre-booked online prior to the car launch. The giveaways shall be out of the box with a mimic of the small actual Nissan car charger as a stand-alone charger for devices and gadgets for personal use. The whole activation experience is driven by connectivity and technology to mimic the launch of the new Ariya which is all about that.
Omar Mal,
November 17, 2020
Omar Mal 