Innovate or Die
tms
March , 2025
Innovate or Die
In the March 2025 Newsletter
Innovate / Events / About
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Innovate or Die
Peter Drucker famously declared the phrase, “Innovate or Die,” and many others have shared it. How do organizations successfully implement innovations? Why is this important? What is the role of the Board of Directors?
Innovation is a new method, idea, product, or service. Innovation is important because it provides the means to gain a competitive advantage. It can help reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and increase revenues. It can open new business units and revenue streams. It can help you better meet your customers’ needs and stand out in a crowded market.
Many players in a firm should be involved in championing its innovation strategy. Our focus here will be on technical innovation through the Board of Directors working with leadership.
How Boards Can Drive Innovation
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STRATEGIC OVERSIGHT. Boards are responsible for ensuring that technology initiatives align with the organization’s overall business goals and objectives. A Board of Directors plays a vital role in driving innovation by setting a strategic vision that encourages creativity and growth while maintaining strong oversight on risk management.
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RISK MANAGEMENT. Boards assess and monitor technology-related risks, including cybersecurity threats and implementation challenges.
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INVESTMENT APPROVAL. Boards review and approve significant technology investments, ensuring that such investments provide value to the organization.
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PERFORMANCE MONITORING. Boards establish and track key performance indicators (KPIs)
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| 5. | TECHNOLOGY ENGAGEMENT. Boards engage in technology matters in various ways, such as regular full-Board discussions, formal standing committees, or temporary advisory committees. |
Practical Pointers for a Board’s Role in Innovation
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CLARIFY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES. A CEO manages the business day-to-day, allocates resources, and ensures the firm’s strategic execution is aligned with the Board’s direction.
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DEFINE AUTHORITY FOR DECISION MAKING. The Board and the CEO need to define who makes what decisions and when.
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HAVE CLEAR COMMUNICATIONS. Ensure that there are regular discussions between Board members and top management about innovation. The Board Chair and/or Lead Director must get the right topics about innovation on the Board agenda and carefully allocate discussion time.
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ASK GOOD QUESTIONS. Here’s a sample of Board questions relating to Artificial Intelligence innovation:
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My Story
Radish Communications Systems (aka, Radish 1.0), was funded by venture capital. The Board of Directors consisted of two VCs, the CEO, and the two founders (one of whom was me). Good things were happening at Radish, including signing a sales contract with a major financial services firm. Yet when we did an honest assessment, we could see that our business model was too complex and not sustainable.
As with many start-ups, we were not meeting our revenue targets, cash was burning quickly, and the VCs were hesitant to provide additional funding. Radish was in pain. At that point, the Board made two difficult — but ultimately correct business decisions.
The first was to stop building our proprietary VoiceView™ modems and displays. Instead, we wanted to license our patent-protected voice/data protocol to modem and PC manufacturers. Before that could happen, we needed the help of Microsoft. Fortunately, they supported our approach. They teamed with us to convince the modem manufacturers to embed VoiceView capabilities in their products, and they built VoiceView software into the Windows platform. That solved the hardware problem for us and vastly increased software distribution.
Of course, those changes did not happen overnight. To reduce costs in the short term, the Board had to make another difficult decision. Almost all costs were related to employee salaries. Our employees were like family. They were smart, dedicated, and hardworking. We didn’t want to reduce staff. Instead, the Board decided to institute a 10% across-the-board salary cut, except for executives, who each took a 25% cut. Fortunately, our employees understood the situation and they all stuck with us.
These changes were gut-wrenching at the time, but they were needed. The Radish Board guided us through and got us back on track. Several years later we had a successful exit through acquisition by a public company.
Summary
Innovation is important to the survival, growth, and success of organizations. Establish the Board’s role. Board and leadership need to clarify roles, define decision-making authority, clearly communicate, and ask the right questions. The result will be a solid competitive edge.
Selected Events
March 25 & 26, 2025. Attend the Meeting Industry Council (MIC) conference in Denver. Look for me wearing red and volunteering with other outstanding individuals in the Speaker Showcase, March 25th at 12:45 PM. Meeting professionals can win a FREE keynote address. Learn more and register.
March 27, 2025. Join Theresa as I lead a roundtable discussion on “Growth Through Innovation: A Board’s Role.” 4-6:30 PM. The Private Directors Association in Denver. Register now.
April 24, 2025. Private Directors Association – Spring Social. Join us for an engaging and fun evening of networking and connection. Meet other like-minded executives serving on private corporate Boards. 4-6 PM. Register now.
About Theresa
See Theresa in action, as a coach, speaker, Board member, facilitator, and consultant. Learn more at TMSworld.com and see a sample of Theresa’s speaking programs.
As Greg Thomason of DUBL said, “Theresa’s insights and business instincts have played a crucial, objective role in guiding DUBL on technical, strategic, and funding considerations. We are now exploring market opportunities that we would not have been ready for, nor able to connect with, had we not retained Theresa when we did.”
Emily Jarvis at GovLoop said, “Of all the keynoters I’ve worked with, Theresa is among the best.”
Theresa M. Szczurek, Ph.D.
C-Level Executive, Certified Corporate Director, Certified Management Consultant®, Executive Coach, Speaker, and Colorado CIO of the Year
In gathering inputs for this newsletter, I want to thank Arlen Meyers, President and CEO of the Society of Physician Entrepreneurs. I also acknowledge use of some AI tools.
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