Challenge conventional management beliefs, which Toyota did by deciding that frontline employees-not top executives-make the best process innovators. Search for radical management principles-as Visa’s founders did when they envisioned self-organization-and created the first non-stock, for-profit membership enterprise. The keys to serial management innovation? Tackle a big problem-as General Motors did by inventing the divisional structure to bring order to its sprawling family of companies. To stay ahead of rivals, you must become a serial management innovator, systematically seeking breakthroughs in how your company executes crucial managerial processes. Yet most companies focus their innovation efforts on developing new offerings or achieving operational efficiencies-gains competitors quickly copy. And by revolutionizing brand management, Procter & Gamble created a product portfolio that scores $1 billion in sales annually. By perfecting the industrial research laboratory, for example, General Electric won more patents than any other U.S. Breakthroughs in your company’s management processes-such as creation of intellectual property, brand building, talent development-deliver potent competitive advantages.
