An Innovation Manager’s Role as System Architect

Building a repeatable, scalable innovation capability often involves turning to well-established frameworks or standards—yet a standard alone doesn’t magically elevate performance. The real game-changer lies in how leaders shape, introduce, and sustain these systems.

Think of it this way: a standardised innovation management system (SIMS) is a detailed architectural plan. But even the best plan can be rendered useless by poor construction or a misalignment with local conditions. As the “innovation architect,” your role is to tailor the system to your organisation’s unique environment—its culture, business goals, and day-to-day realities—while ensuring that it fosters genuine creative thinking and has the capacity and capability to go all the way to commercialisation.

"As the innovation architect, your role is to tailor the system to your organisation’s unique environment."

Below, we’ll explore practical ways to design your innovation system. We’ll examine the natural tension between new standards and existing practices, the potential for dramatic shifts in thinking, and the importance of the diverse ‘actors’ (from frontline employees to senior executives) who will help you to shape the outcome.

The Power (and Peril) of Introducing a New Standard

When a new framework or standard is introduced, it often competes with established routines. People accustomed to their own ways of doing things may find the new approach confusing, unnecessary, or even threatening, particularly when we are asking for novel thinking and working with uncertainties.

But here’s the silver lining: tension can be productive. By encouraging open debate about what works and what doesn’t, managers can arrive at a newly refined system that truly fits the organisation. It’s less about imposing change from the top and more about using constructive disagreement to integrate fresh thinking with proven successes.

Watch for the ‘Big Shift’

Sometimes, a new system can trigger a profound change in how your people collaborate, solve problems, and even define success. It’s as if you swap out the entire playbook overnight. This can be disruptive—but it can also unleash breakthroughs if guided correctly.

• Avoid Blind Tradition: In times of radical change, traditional processes may become roadblocks. Stay agile, and be open to discarding what no longer serves you.
• Embrace a New Mindset: If people see the new system as a catalyst for growth rather than a rigid set of rules, they’re far more likely to adapt their thinking and behaviours.

See the Big Picture

No framework exists in a vacuum. It intersects with the software tools you use, the people who implement it, and the culture that supports (or undermines) it. Understanding this complex web is essential. A top-notch standard can still fail if your existing incentives or leadership styles are not compatible.

Approaches for SIMS architecture

In essence, innovation is a learning exercise, an ongoing cycle of trying something new, assessing the results, and adapting to minimise uncertainties. But how an organisation may ‘learn to innovate’ can differ significantly depending on context and practices. By understanding the tensions between the key characteristics of the uptake of SIMS, as ‘system architects’, you will be better able to fine tune your SIMS to achieve your organisations vison and strategies. Below is a simple four-quadrant lens that combines two key dimensions:

• Does your organisation respond more to external pressures like industry norms, regulation and certification requirements (external)?
• Or is it shaped primarily by a strong internal culture, leadership behaviours, and peer support (internal)?

• Does your organisation innovate best through structured, clear guidelines with rewards for compliance (structured)?
• Or through open-ended experimentation, reflection, and self-discovery (exploratory)?

These two dimensions produce four typical environments for SIMS:

No single quadrant is “best.” Most organisations thrive by mixing elements from each. Your mission as the ‘innovation systems architect’ is to choose the right blend based on your industry context, the maturity of your teams, and your strategic priorities.

Steps for Crafting a Sustainable Innovation Framework

• Articulate the “why” of your innovation push. Are you trying to improve customer experience, cut costs, or open new markets? When everyone knows the goal, it becomes easier to shape learning and behaviour in meaningful ways.

• Both ISO 56001 and 56002 emphasise understanding the organisation’s context and setting clear objectives for innovation. By articulating the “why,” you’re fulfilling the requirement to align innovation activities with strategic goals and stakeholder needs.

• Involve representatives from different levels and functions early on. Their input can reveal hidden friction points and spark invaluable refinements.
• By collaboratively shaping the system, you shift from compliance to genuine commitment.
• Collaboration and cross-functional involvement are central to ISO-based approaches. ISO 56002 specifically encourages broad participation from leadership and employees to ensure that the innovation management system is relevant and widely accepted.
  
  

"By collaboratively shaping the system, you shift from compliance to genuine commitment."

• Don’t shy away from debates about what the new system should look like. Tension can lead to breakthroughs, provided it’s guided by respect and openness.
• ISO frameworks often stress the need for open dialogue and feedback loops. Encouraging debate aligns with the principle of continual improvement, ensuring that the system evolves based on practical insights and constructive critique.

• Offer formal training where needed, but also leave space for exploratory projects. Strike a balance between giving clear instructions and letting teams figure out solutions on their own.
• Recognise (and reward) not just success but also well-run experiments that fail fast and yield learnings.
• Both standards call for providing the resources (training, tools, and time) necessary to foster innovation. This aligns with the “Support” clause in ISO 56002, which covers competence-building, awareness, and enabling resources.

• If you sense a bigger change on the horizon, such as a shift in the way your organisation thinks about innovation, start with modest steps. Small pilot projects can serve as proof of concept and build momentum for larger transformations.
• Incremental improvements that lead to strategic transformation are at the heart of innovation management standards. ISO 56002 highlights iterative approaches, pilot projects, and scalability

• Continually review and refine. Successful innovation systems are living frameworks, not static rulebooks. Seek out stories of success (and struggle) and share them widely to reinforce cultural buy in.
• Continual review and refinement map directly to the “Performance Evaluation” and “Improvement” clauses. A living framework, rather than a static rulebook, is precisely what the standards aim to promote.

Making It Stick: Culture, Leadership, and Strategy

Beyond processes and training modules, the sustainability of your innovation framework rests on three pillars:

Culture: Does your company genuinely value curiosity, risk-taking, and ongoing learning?

• The ISO standards underscore the importance of an organisational culture that embraces learning, risk-taking, and open feedback.

Leadership: Do senior leaders model the behaviours you want to see (such as open-mindedness and willingness to learn from failure)?

• Both ISO 56001 and ISO 56002 place the responsibility on top management to champion the innovation vision and embed it in the organisation’s strategy and operations.

• In the standards, there’s an explicit focus on ensuring that innovation is linked to the overarching strategic direction—so it doesn’t become a siloed or “nice-to-have” initiative.

When culture, leadership, and strategy align, you have the foundation for an innovation practice that can evolve alongside market shifts and technological disruptions. Without this alignment, even the most elegant standard will likely fade into irrelevance.

Final Thoughts

A standardised innovation management system can serve as an essential blueprint, offering clarity and consistency. Yet it’s your role as the innovation manager and ‘system architect’ to ensure that blueprint comes to life in a way that resonates with real people and real business challenges. By blending external requirements with internal strengths, and balancing structured approaches with open-ended exploration, you build a learning ecosystem where creativity and discipline reinforce each other.

In doing so, you don’t just implement a system; you shape a new organisational mindset. And that mindset, rooted in thoughtful design, informed debate, and a willingness to adapt, can be the difference between sporadic ideas and a self-sustaining culture of innovation.