TL; DR
Innovators often cherish simplicity. But we can over-do it.
Creating new growth businesses comes with many demands. We must honor them all if we want our ventures to have any chance at success.
After all, even "startup" is short for "startup company." Everything that a company needs must be created for the first time in a new venture. Often, this requires significant creativity. (In other words, "front-end" work can mean finance, HR, or supply chain just as much as design or trend & foresight.)
This is even true for corporate innovation. In that setting, lots of processes and capabilities already exist. But they tend to be too heavy-duty and focused on optimization to be of use with young ventures. So here, too, we must value all kinds of work equally.
In this case study, a company called ATS brings to life the range of work that credible innovation work takes.
