INNOVATION
Innovation Services
Innovation management
Power Projects Leufkens offers the following innovation services to its clients:
- Engineering High Voltage, High Power, and Energy Storage technology
- Technology road-mapping
- Product development, service innovation
- Authoring/preparing publications and white papers
- Workshops and professional development sessions to stimulate out-of-the box thinking, evaluate alternative approaches, translate ideas into strategic plans, and build productive, effective teams
These services can be planned and delivered by Power Projects Leufkens or provided as support/coaching in partnership with your organization’s leadership.
Paul Leufkens developed innovation experience as R&D manager at cable and switchgear manufacturers, and business development expertise at KEMA in Europe and America. At the April 2018 IEEE Switchgear Committee meeting in Lake Vista, FL he shared insights on the topic of innovation at a session titled, “Innovation is Like a Lightning Bolt.”
As discussed at the IEEE session, the innovation process consists of divergent and convergent parts.
In divergent parts of the process, creativity is used to generate multiple potential solutions. In convergent parts of the process, specifications are set, choices are made, and creative ideas are balanced with the practical considerations needed to control scope, time, and costs.
Innovation survey - best practices
In mid-2018, PPL collaborated with Newton-Evans Research on a survey, “Innovation in the Electric Power Industry: Processes and Best Practices.” This survey focuses on innovation insights related to the modern electric power industry. The majority of the 55 survey participants are from North American organizations, and 35 of the participants in the study work at larger manufacturers.
Some strong and recurrent themes emerged in this survey. Innovation is directly related to customers and markets. It is affected in large part by the employees and is much more than merely product development. It is, first and foremost, a major process that can be substantially improved by sharing best practices.
The combination of convergent and divergent parts makes the image of the process look alike a lightning bolt and also comparable with how brain hemispheres cooperate.
An individual’s approach to innovation is shaped by the role he or she plays within the enterprise. Marketeers tend to be more convergent whereas research engineers tend to be more divergent.
Effective innovation leadership facilitates both parts of the innovative process by:
- inspiring critical thinking;
- motivating participation by all parties;
- incorporating multiple points of view and perspectives; and
- applying relevant considerations to meld creative ideas with real-world conditions.
Figure 1: Survey response to the question:
How does your company tend to innovate?
One survey question asked, “How does your company tend to innovate?” Sixty-two percent of the respondents indicated that they tend to innovate incrementally over a long period of time. Twenty percent indicated that they innovate incrementally, but also sometimes have major breakthroughs in innovation in a shorter amount of time. The statistics are illustrated in Figure 1.
The survey’s findings for each relevant question are cross-tabulated based on type and size of the responding organization. Further information on the report Innovation in the Electric Power Industry Processes and Best Practices in Mid-2018 is available from Newton-Evans Research Company, 10176 Baltimore National Pike, Suite 204, Ellicott City, Maryland 21042.
Phone: 410-465-7316. The innovation report is 40 pages in length and priced at $495.00.