You Don't Control Innovation. You Manage It. | Harlan Bennett & Rick Fernandez

Kodak's own engineers built the first digital camera, and its executives shelved it to protect film. The gap between having ideas and managing innovation is where organizations quietly die. In this special episode of GovCon Unscripted, Chelsea Roberts sits down with two of the people writing the international playbook for innovation management. Rick Fernandez is President of the American Network for Innovation, chairman of the US technical advisory group to ISO TC 279, and a veteran of Florida Power & Light's Deming Prize win, the first awarded outside Japan. Harlan Bennett is CEO of Ever Evolving, Inc., VP of the American Network for Innovation, and vice chair of the same US advisory group.   Together they take apart the most common misreads in federal innovation: that innovation equals technology, that more ideas mean more innovation, and that a standard is just another compliance flow-down. Rick contrasts idea-driven programs (14,000 employee ideas collected, roughly 100 developed, 13,900 contributors alienated) with value-driven innovation that starts from strategic intent. Harlan shows SBIR performers how to escape the one-lane trap by validating adjacent customers before the build starts. And both make the case that ISO 56001, built on the same harmonized structure as ISO 9001, is a management system, not a control system.   They also preview what's next: innovation ecosystem management, IP-sharing contracts between primes and subs, and why innovation is no longer an individual game.   TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Welcome and guest introductions 01:00 Harlan Bennett: Ever Evolving, Inc. and the American Network for Innovation 02:30 Rick Fernandez: from FPL's Deming Prize to ISO TC 279 04:00 Why innovation needs standards now: the three S's 07:00 Innovation is not a technology: something new that creates value 09:30 The garage tinkerer problem and the one hit wonder 11:00 Managing innovation vs controlling it 12:00 Idea-driven vs value-driven innovation: the 14,000 ideas story 14:30 Innovation portfolio management 18:45 SBIR: escaping the one-lane trap 23:30 The recipe: maximize value, minimize risk, resources, and time 24:45 Ambidextrous organizations: innovating without dropping daily operations 25:30 Case study: an innovation management office, 100 projects narrowed to 3 29:00 Ecosystems: innovation is no longer an individual game 31:00 Primes, flow-downs, CMMC, and fair negotiations 37:45 Standards as enablers, not regulations 39:30 The harmonized structure: why ISO 9001 shops are halfway there 42:15 Where to find Harlan and Rick **Resources:** Harlan Bennett's LinkedIn Profile Rick Fernandez's LinkedIn Profile Chelsea Roberts' LinkedIn Profile   **Other resources:** Ever Evolving Inc. Website 2020 Innovation Website American Network For Innovation Website   🎧 Listen now on: 🔹 Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/govcon-unscripted/id1766384482 🔹 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1NL0kFAvmgECLTJpUZYNHy   Like and follow us: 🔹 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GovConUnscriptedUS 🔹 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/govconunscriptedpodcast/ 🔹 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/govcon-unscripted/posts/ 🔹 Join our #govcon community: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/14618490/