Technology is advancing at a blistering pace. It permeates every area of our modern lives – from the specially-formulated shampoo we use in the shower to fight dandruff, to the fuel-efficient and electric cars in which we drive to work, to the synthetic materials used to create the clothing we wear. Many companies want to be a part of this future by being at the forefront of these advancements in technology. Going from a “good” company to a market leader – a “great” company – requires a culture where innovation is celebrated and efficiently generated systematically.
Jim Collins, in his number one best-selling book Good to Great (Random House Business Books, 2001), introduces an insightful framework for establishing company culture using the image of a mechanical flywheel. The flywheel captures his impression of “the overall feel of what it was like inside companies that went from good to great.” We believe that a particular flywheel architecture including as components the activities of patent filing and strategic portfolio management drives a company’s high performance innovation culture: a culture that systematically and continuously generates market leading technology.
