Do you have a license to innovate?

The companies that consistently outperform on growth have one thing in common: they’ve built strong entrepreneurial capabilities. These capabilities are developed through the practice of working on realising tomorrows business. From early stage ideas on paper to fully fletched new business, with money in the bank. Just like individuals improve with practice, so do organizations. By consistently working on tomorrow’s business both inside and outside the company, they get better and better.

In fact, research shows these companies achieve an organic growth rate that’s nearly three percentage points higher than companies that don’t take a systematic approach to innovation.

What Sets Growth Leaders Apart

McKinsey’s global surveys on innovation, based on five years of data from over 1,100 executives, reveal six actions that separate the best from the rest. Those actions align with our experience and practices, helping companies with strengthening their innovation practices.

1.) Companies must dedicate real funding to the growth. Not just peanuts, but real budgets that can be compared to start-ups funding rounds with venture fonds. There’s a clear link between how much you invest and the results you get. To make meaningful progress, you must dedicate growth capital to support your Innovation Project Portfolio.

2.) A Balanced portfolio – successful companies spread their bets, balancing big, transformative ideas with projects closer to the core business. Beginners often focus on the transformative ideas, because they sound more innovative, but they fail more often than not. Having a balanced portfolio means having 40-50% ideas that are closer to the core either in capabilities or market.

3.) Give you high-risk projects access to the organization’s strengths and resources, rather than isolating them. The Corporate incentive system can have a tendency to “protect” or shield high performing individuals from doing anything outside the job description. That is a mistake. Work flows to those who get’s it done, so the most busy people is often those you need in creating something new and impactful.

4.) Executive support is a classic on a list like this, but it’s still critical. Leaders need to regularly check in, set priorities, and make sure growth efforts stay on track. Way too often, the “disengaged middle-managers” will try to downprioritise new initiatives in order to deliver on todays performance. Leaving the effort to build “Tomorrow’s business” in shatters, scrambling for the resources left over.

5.) Putting the right people on the job. Too often, companies assign innovation projects as side work. We’ve found that “self-appointed” teams — those who volunteer because they care —perform best. With the right tools and platforms, like Nosco’s, companies can tap into talent across the organization.

6.) Building missing capabilities is vital. Innovation is a skill that can be learned. By training teams, you create a pool of people who know how to turn ideas into results, embedding these capabilities into your organization’s DNA.

We have found a way, to practices intrapreneurship and build capabilities at the same time as securing management backing and have better portfolio overview. In this way, hitting 4 out of the six action points.

Practice Makes Perfect

The more a company matures its innovation approach and practices going from ideas to implemented solutions or new business, the more likely it is to succeed. Research shows expert innovators are about twice as likely to meet or exceed their goals. And the companies that can be considered “experts in building new business” enjoy significantly higher growth rates than its peers.

At Nosco, we’ve developed the License to Innovate. It’s an applied innovation upskilling program that works with real projects inside your organization, not just theory or workshops. It creates a shared framework across teams and leadership, speeds up progress on critical initiatives, and strengthens cross-functional collaboration.

Instead of theoretical exercises, teams apply what they learn directly to initiatives that matter, whether it’s a new product, a service improvement, or a business model tweak. The program creates a common language and approach across the organization, helping teams move faster and smarter.

The Program Journey

To get started, the program is designed to bring the involved people together. The idea team, the sponsors and the mangers get training on real ideas. Since its an applied learning program, it starts with the leadership team that owns a portfolio. Toghetter, we find the teams that should be participating in the program. They join 2 workshops. A 2 days “shaping workshop” and a 3 days validation workshop and hands-on project support in between and as preparation for a planned Gate meeting. The Leadership team commits to 2 half days meetings that works as portfolio and gate meetings. In the workhops, we ensure that the projects gets into the digital portfolio system.

The program unfolds across three levels:

1. Idea Shaping: A two-day workshop where teams shape concepts, discover their innovation strengths, and learn how to pitch their ideas.

2. Three-Month Validation: Teams plan and test key assumptions, run experiments with customers, and report progress. Managers get coaching to lead effectively.

3. Innovation Leadership: Sponsors and leaders are trained to guide projects, make key decisions, and align on priorities.

Why It Works

License to Innovate connects leaders, managers, and teams. It blends into existing meetings and processes and is designed to be self-sustaining over time. The result is faster validation, stronger cross-functional collaboration and a clear return on investment.

Where to Begin

Most companies get started in one of two ways:

By applying the program to existing projects that are high-priority, stuck, or losing customer focus.

By launching an innovation challenge around a big, relevant business problem and forming teams around the best ideas.

From there, teams move through idea shaping and structured validation, turning potential into progress.

Ready to Start?

Before you begin, consider these questions: Which projects could serve as great pilots? Which business unit might be your first customer? How can you align with existing training or innovation tools? And what barriers should you anticipate?

Final Words

License to Innovate is about empowering people. It gives employees the permission and tools to shape the future, while giving the company a structured approach to make innovation stick. If you’re ready to explore how License to Innovate can unlock growth in your organization, let’s start the conversation.