{"id":11182,"date":"2019-12-13T10:08:16","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T02:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.ekipa.co\/insights\/blogs\/innovation-in-indonesia-strategy-vs-execution\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T18:58:05","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:58:05","slug":"innovation-in-indonesia-strategy-vs-execution","status":"publish","type":"insights_articles","link":"https:\/\/ekipa.co\/en-id\/insights\/blogs\/innovation-in-indonesia-strategy-vs-execution\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation in Indonesia: Strategy vs Execution"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019m on a personal quest to find out how I can best help the innovation ecosystem in Indonesia. At heart, I am an entrepreneur. I\u2019m always seeing business opportunities around me and am inclined to \u2018get going right away\u2019. I\u2019ve also learned that it\u2019s good to sometimes sit on an idea a few days to see if it \u2018survives\u2019. At the same time, executing an idea on your own (as a startup founder) is \u2018easy\u2019. Doing it with a large group of people, especially in a traditional organisation, is \u2018hard\u2019. The interesting part for me is how to \u2018use\u2019 my entrepreneurial spirit and experience to help corporates in Indonesia innovate.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What I have seen in the almost 4 years I have lived here is that energy is bursting on this topic. Although Indonesia was late on the scene of \u2018eCommerce\u2019 and \u2018startups\u2019, it\u2019s catching up quickly. Bigger enterprises now start seeing that startups innovate and disrupt their businesses. They need to \u2018catch up\u2019 (become digital for example) and also \u2018create their future\u2019 (explore the next big things on top of continuous improvement).\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the strong points of many Indonesian people I\u2019ve worked with is \u2018execution\u2019. When it\u2019s clear what needs to \u2018get done\u2019, people jump up and get it done. The spirit is \u2018let\u2019s just start and move quickly\u2019; an important ingredient of innovation and creating startups. The challenge however is getting clarity on what needs to get done, or strategy and direction.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most leaders have the same spirit of execution. They apply \u2018let\u2019s just start and move quickly\u2019 to large initiatives. This sometimes leaves their subordinates confused. Below image shows the tension between \u2018strategy\u2019 and \u2018execution\u2019.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/nRHR9L0T-hdxl5tTo6eW1cav5RkdEpwh7oYJkfzAijAcyHBfIMFx4TXa4Hn8lCt--yxDu0uu5XQkzMXcMrjKpXvLWbXIZTm9ewE5mwl2UkzGOoXHYbcn0a7RWnMx3CunsvInscI-\" alt=\"\" \/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Disciplined execution<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve recently started reading <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.co.id\/books\/about\/The_4_Disciplines_of_Execution.html?id=4w1VrlxDYZIC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;source=kp_read_button&amp;redir_esc=y#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">the four disciplines of execution<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pw1mNSn-Hls\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">watch this very inspiring video <\/a>to get a sense of the message). One of the things the authors describe is that the biggest challenge to any (business) initiative is not strategy, but execution. It\u2019s \u2018easy\u2019 to device direction and strategic plans. But getting them executed is painful. In my personal experience the key to balance is to first of all focus on a handful of big initiatives.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People need to concentrate all their energy on 1 or 2 big priorities. Second, leaders need to help teams to become crystal clear about the \u2018why\u2019 and \u2018how\u2019 of the initiative. If people are in doubt why a leader leads them in a certain direction, they get resistance. If they don\u2019t know how to achieve the outcomes the leader is after, they will also not move. Especially in a culture where asking questions when things are not clear, this leads to a lot of paralysis. From the outside it will look as if things are clear and moving, while they\u2019re not.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Looking at innovation, I see many enterprises focus on the execution side. They equal innovation with for example \u2018running a design thinking workshop\u2019 or \u2018running a startup\/idea competition\u2019. While these activities can bring ideas or entrepreneurs to the surface, they shouldn\u2019t stand in isolation. As many people in the innovation landscape know, they often result in \u2018innovation theatre\u2019. The attractive part of this is the energy that comes along with for example an idea competition. Most people like the energy of ideation. When participating in design thinking workshops, ideas float around. People get many ideas to improve their company, services or even launch new products. But what does that account for if nothing happens with those ideas after that?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>My personal innovation experience<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A personal reflection on this. For years, I have been trying to build digital products inside my own companies. My two companies Bridge and Ekipa employ around 100 people. Small compared to most Indonesian enterprises we help with our innovation programs. The focus of both my companies has always been \u2018services\u2019. We help customers build digital products as well as run agile innovation transformations. Although ideas float around for products, there are 2 big challenges: A. people are usually busy servicing customers and B. the \u2018mindset\u2019 of our people is \u2018service\u2019, not \u2018product\u2019.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The past year I\u2019ve been pushing my team to become a \u2018startup studio\u2019: a team focused on ideating, validating and finding product market fit for new products. I\u2019ve decided to make this a big priority in the company and personally I keep moving people in that direction. The first serious initiatives are coming up now and I am confident we will manage to launch several successful products in 2020. However, looking at the effort it takes to get such an initiative in a 100 people strong company, I also see that making this happen in a company with 20.000 people is no easy feat. It needs a clear strategy and a leader who keeps moving the ball forward on this against all odds.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reading this, I know what you are thinking: I\u2019m still not telling you \u2018how to do it\u2019. How to develop a strong strategy and then execute it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Agile innovation path<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At Ekipa, we\u2019ve developed an agile innovation path to answer that question. In essence, very simple:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Step 1: Define innovation thesis and \u2018engines\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This means we define what specific innovation we are looking for. Do we want \u2018improvement to our current processes or services?\u2019 Or do we want \u2018new business models for our existing business?\u2019. Or maybe \u2018disruptive innovation in the form of new products\u2019?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We then define the \u2018engines\u2019 we will start that will result in innovation. Some key engines:\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&gt; creating an innovation team to identify and support initiatives\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&gt; starting an incubation program (internal and\/or external)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&gt; creating a corporate startup program (internal startups)<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&gt; a corporate VC to invest in external startups<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&gt; collaboration with external startups<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Step 2: define roadmap and pilot <\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is where the \u2018agile\u2019 comes in. We define on a high level all the activities we must execute. We add that to a roadmap which roughly maps out those activities on a quarterly basis. The total timeline can be one or two years.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We then define in more detail all activities for the first quarter. The key goal of the first quarter should be a \u2018pilot\u2019: the first project that will get us started and can create positive outcomes (proof). Typically, this would be starting the innovation team and that team supporting one or two innovation teams that are already running in the company. Or it could be a startup competition to attract external startups.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Iterative strategy<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The key to our approach is that everything happens incrementally. We define a high level strategy, while acknowledging this is subject to change (based on the feedback\/outcomes we get). We assemble an innovation team with the understanding that they also iteratively form and grow in their knowledge and experience. We plan for 1 quarter, launch the first initiatives, gather all our learning and then decide what we do in the next quarter (for which we already have a high level roadmap).<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Lean startup applied to \u2018innovation\u2019 programs<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most startups use \u2018the lean startup\u2019 as their guide. The central idea is creating an MVP to test our assumptions. We build that MVP, let users interact with it, generate data and then learn from the data. With data in hand, we build the next version of our MVP. In our agile innovation path, the product is \u2018innovation\u2019. We define the MVP together, launch it, learn and build the next version. Once we find \u2018product market fit\u2019 (successful innovations that contribute to the goals we set out to achieve), we scale the product.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My personal experience is that this model brings the right balance between strategy and execution. We stay within the spirit of \u2018let\u2019s just start and move quickly\u2019, yet we spend enough time to think through direction and \u2018engines\u2019 with leaders. We focus on clarifying the priorities and \u2018how\u2019 for the activities happening in the first quarter, yet not on the activities that happen later. We get started and learn along the way, without getting stuck in long term strategic planning.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m on a personal quest to find out how I can best help the innovation ecosystem in Indonesia. At heart, I am an entrepreneur. I\u2019m always seeing business opportunities around me and am inclined to \u2018get going right away\u2019. I\u2019ve also learned that it\u2019s good to sometimes sit on an idea a few days to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":10793,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","insights_tag":[207],"article_categories":[319,327,340,342,346],"insights_types":[286],"class_list":["post-11182","insights_articles","type-insights_articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","insights_tag-featured","article_categories-uncategorized","article_categories-agile-innovation","article_categories-agile-startup","article_categories-agile-transformation","article_categories-insights","insights_types-blogs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Innovation in Indonesia Strategy vs Execution: Key Insights<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Insights on innovation in Indonesia, exploring why balancing clear strategy and effective execution matters for driving 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