Leila Summa: "A lot of innovation doesn't just come from Swiss people in our company."

Leila Summa - who, as a Swiss national, was one of the first employees at Facebook Germany - is convinced that there is much that can be learned from digital giants like Google, Amazon and others. They cleverly use technological progress to anticipate customer needs and reinvent themselves every day. And relevant, too: They manage to attract the best talent for the long term. In a keynote speech on October 1, Leila Summa will present five essential things that distinguish a "normal" team from a high-performance team.

Leila Summa, explain: What is a "high-performance team"? What are the characteristics of such teams?
Leila Summa: There is no single definition of what distinguishes high-performance teams. I would describe it as follows: This is a team that has a passionate commitment to very ambitious goals and a strong shared conviction. It is characterized by collaboration that is characterized by maximum trust, creative problem-solving practices, a willingness to learn, and short decision-making paths. The willingness of each individual to take risks and innovate is high, and employees think and act entrepreneurially, i.e. take full responsibility to contribute to the company's success on a daily basis.

Why are such teams so important for entrepreneurial innovation?
High-performance teams are a competitive advantage because they shorten the innovation process. It makes it possible to shorten the time-to-market for new products, i.e. to respond more quickly to changing market and customer needs.

Switzerland regularly takes top places in global rankings when it comes to innovative capability. Precisely because it has many such "high-performance teams"?
The decisive factors here are the number of patent applications in relation to the population and in an EU comparison. We are a rather small country, but with a great scientific infrastructure and a good school and university system. In my opinion, a lot of innovation in our country comes not only from the Swiss, but from the mix of immigrant professionals - especially in the university environment. I think we have great people and experts. But I also think that we could achieve a lot more with this base if we opened up to the outside world even more.

Many innovations come from start-ups, but are only then brought to market by global corporations. What is going "wrong" here - or why is this right after all?
Start-ups can naturally develop ideas more quickly and, of course, often think very creatively. What is often missing is the focus on a functioning business model, a well-known brand or customer access, and the structures to make an idea really big. From a business perspective, I think it makes a lot of sense to bring a global corporation on board. I think it even shows maturity to get the right partners on board at the right time.

Your tips to SMEs on how they can improve their innovation capability?
SMEs must recognize that a corporate culture capable of innovation can only be created through the actions of many and not just top-down. In concrete terms, it is important to give all employees as much room for maneuver as possible to develop ideas themselves. Companies must provide them with the right tools and practices and invest heavily in on-the-job development. But more importantly, when looking for new talent, make sure to recruit for potential and willingness to learn. We need more employees who are continuously open to learning and questioning what they already do in order to make it even better.

Leila Summa is an online pioneer from the very beginning and has been accompanying and leading digital transformation projects in traditional and digital companies for more than 22 years. You can experience her live at the Business Innovation Week on October 1, 2019 in Zurich.
www.businessinnovation.ch