Say you have some rocks, a bunch of pebbles, and some sand, and your goal is to fit as much of everything as you can into a wide-mouth jar. If you start with the sand and then the pebbles, the jar will run out of room for all the rocks. But when you start with the rocks, add the pebbles, and save the sand for last, the sand fills the space between the rocks, and everything fits.
The above anecdote is knowns as Covey’s Big Rocks theory and states that the most important things need to get done first, or they won’t get done at all.1 Sometimes innovation is more about what you aren’t doing than what you are doing. So how should you decide where to invest your time with innovation initiatives? The answer lies in an innovation strategy.
Operational effectiveness is not strategy
Across the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry, there are vast differences in how well companies execute basic tasks. The…