Innovation Practices within a $20 Billion Defense Company
Innovation-in-Defense.jpg

In this episode of the Shift podcast, we’re really excited to have our guest, John Kelly, from BAE Systems.

John leads the empowered innovation program within BAE, which is a nearly $20 billion multinational defense, security and aerospace company.

In the episode, we dive into how they have organized their innovation strategy into 4 operational buckets and how they not only identify new products but use Lean Innovation principals on the core business. We also talk about how they have done a fantastic job getting rid of the distance between the end customer and new product development teams, among other things.

Other topics in today’s episode include:

  • Balancing internal innovation with external innovation scouting.
  • How BAE organizes their innovation strategy into 4 operational buckets.
  • Innovating upon the core business functions in addition to exploring and implementing new products.
  • How BAE moves products from discovery/search mode into the execution engine of the business.
  • Implicit vs Explicit needs, and how BAE maintains a competitive advantage by constantly searching and creating solutions for the implicit needs of customers.

Like what you’ve heard? Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher today and never miss an episode!