In the Strategos survey of innovation practices of more than 550 large companies, an overwhelming majority of respondents in every industry rated innovation as critical and said that the importance of innovation would grow in the future. However, most respondents were critical of their companies’ innovation effectiveness – for example, only 19 percent said their companies ‘‘walked the talk’’ on innovation, and a majority rated their company’s innovation effectiveness below average.

The top six obstacles to innovation identified by respondents were consistent across industries:

1. Short-term focus.

2. Lack of time, resources or staff.

3. Leadership expects payoff sooner than is realistic.

4. Management incentives are not structured to reward innovation.

5. Lack of a systematic innovation process.

6. Belief that innovation is inherently risky.

Innovation needs to nurtured today more than ever, so its vitally important to catch these ’symptoms’ at an early stage.