R&D team vs innovation team: what the titles actually mean

An R&D team exists because a decision would still be a guess. An innovation team, as the word is used in most companies, exists because someone wanted a title. Sometimes it is the same people. Often it is a workshop schedule with no unknown and no user.

R&D is the work of resolving an unknown. Innovation is the change once someone actually uses it. You need both halves on the same job. Split them across buildings and you will argue about a slide instead of a Friday.

How to tell in one meeting

Ask for the job in one line, the unknown in one line, the evidence that continues the work, and the evidence that stops it. Then ask who used the last thing they shipped. Hours and adoption answer. Sticky notes do not.

What we will not staff

A chief of innovation with nobody who can build a test. A lab that cannot sit next to the work. A portfolio in month one so the weak bet can hide. If you want a studio that ships the change, that is the agency. If you want a report, hire consulting.

This week

1. 01

   Ask for the unknown

   If they cannot name it, you have a calendar, not an R&D team.

2. 02

   Ask who kept the last change

   If nobody on Friday uses it, they have not innovated. They have met.

3. 03

   Ask what they kill

   A team that never stops a bet is not researching. It is decorating.

Questions

What is the difference between an R&D team and an innovation team?

R&D resolves an unknown. Innovation is the change once someone uses it. An “innovation team” can be a title with no unknown and no user. An R&D team that never leaves the room has not innovated. You need both halves, on the same job.