With the GCC countries making massive investments in economic development to ward off the effects of the oil price crisis, innovation can play a big part in shaping the region’s economy over the years ahead. The UAE has already set an example by minimising its dependence on oil through a clear vision to attract investors by strengthening the banking, real estate, health care and tourism sectors. Now as Saudi Arabia and the other GCC countries forge ahead with plans for national economic development to combat the fall in oil prices, it’s vitally important that they also place a big emphasis on developing human capital.
They must focus on their strengths and competitive advantages, and embed the culture of excellence and innovation in order to reach their ambitions and drive transformations in the most innovative and unique way.
In the post-oil era, innovation is the best way to hit the ground running, and this should start by reforming educational programmes to help grow and develop young talent. It’s crucial that the GCC countries invest in their citizens, develop them, and support them to become the next generation of leaders to drive innovation of economies and market their nations’ success.
Innovation has become the new buzzword in business. When I go to meetings these days, one of the first things I’m told is that management are very keen on innovation.
But often they don’t necessarily know what innovation means, or where it comes from. Most people have got some kind of innovation in them. Some have got it in their personal life, in their creativity, perhaps even in the way they decorate their house, while some people in business think in a different way.
The true innovators are those who come from an entrepreneurial background, and one of the biggest challenges for the region is to really support its entrepreneurs to be successful. That will create better innovation.
As a good leader you’ve got to find what your team are good at, and there’s a difference between management and leadership. Managing people is a task in process and is very straightforward. Leadership is actually finding what other skills and abilities people have got to add to that process to make your company better and different. It’s about engaging with your team, and having trust in the ability of young people in particular to make a lasting impact.
Regional business leaders should create innovation groups to bring together people from all levels in the company and task them to think about things in a different way. A company will always want to concentrate on certain key areas of its core business, and to be restrained in this way is good because it keeps the focus on your strengths.
But every now and then you should be thinking what’s different, what’s new, what’s coming next. My company has special group meetings where we incubate ideas. We have debates and discussion which bring out ideas.
Some of these may sound off the wall to begin with, but at that point you begin to innovate and see how they can work. Our business leaders must create opportunity within the workplace for people to think differently and put forward ideas that are outside the norm.
That’s how you get innovation. The oil price is an impetus to move quicker but it shouldn’t be the only driver. Looking back on history in this part of the world, the people of the Gulf region have been great innovators.
GCC traders have performed better than those in most other parts of the world. We just need to make sure that innovation becomes the core of what we do moving forward. We should always look to build innovation where it’s needed, not force it.
But there are three areas here where I see a real need for innovation, starting with the manufacturing sector. We import so much, from food products to clothes, machinery, IT and electronic equipment, and simply don’t produce enough here.
We need innovation around manufacturing techniques to bring more balance to imports and exports. There’s also a big need to drive forward smart cities. We must develop true innovation around the way we lead our lives in the years ahead.
We could be world leaders in this, and the same is possible in the field of true research. But to succeed in research we must take a big step forward in intellectual property to protect the best ideas from the brightest people here.
Innovation is risky. Innovation is expensive. Innovation needs to be contained within proper risk and within proper mitigated plans.
But it’s very rewarding when it works.
The writer is Head of PA Consulting Group, Middle East and North Africa. All opinions expressed are his own.
