Meet Emmah Windley: innovation enabler

When Emmah first heard about the role of “Innovation Specialist” at Aspeq, she was intrigued. It was unlike anything she’d seen advertised before, which was perfect for someone who prefers the great unknown to the tried and true.

“I was excited to join Aspeq because it was clearly serious about investing in innovation and building a company of innovators. In my new role, I was given a blank slate to put in place a framework for evaluating new ideas so that Aspeq can pursue the best innovations with confidence,” she says.

Prior to joining Aspeq, Emmah helped shape ideas into new products and businesses at Victoria University of Wellington’s commercialisation office.

“I loved helping science and technology ideas make it out of laboratories and into the real-world where they could impact peoples' lives.”

Her academic background in biotechnology - the application of biology in the real world - and business management echoes her commitment to making things happen.

“Along with science, I really enjoyed economics and commerce, and the chess game that is a business trying to stay alive and position itself within a market.”

Although Emmah loved learning about science, she knew from experience that she wasn’t keen on being a scientist or an academic. By the time she was in University, she was already spending her summers working in the lab of a pharmaceutical company.

“My first job was cleaning glassware and concentrating cow bile, which is a raw material used for medicine. It wasn’t a glamorous job, but I got to wear a lab coat and work with real scientists.”

Later on, she moved to the quality assurance team where she learned the importance of root cause analysis - understanding the problem you’re trying to solve before designing a solution.

“Root cause analysis was the name of the game when it comes to quality assurance. We were making medicine so the stakes were incredibly high. The value of really investigating the problem was reinforced in my role at the University’s commercialisation office, where we were betting real money on identifying gaps in the market that our innovations could address.”

Emmah embedded root cause analysis into Aspeq’s innovation framework, along with market analysis, impact reports and cost projections.

“Our approach is a really robust, consistent and transparent process for evaluating new ideas. Whether we choose to implement an innovation or not, the reason behind the decision is really clear to everyone. This helps to foster an environment where everyone’s ideas are valued and encouraged.”

What makes the process so successful is that Aspeq’s people are full of great ideas and are encouraged to voice them, says Emmah.

“It’s awesome and energising to work in a place where people go out of their way to think about how to do things better for their teams and customers. Whether that’s improving processes or chasing new opportunities, my colleagues are incredibly open and creative.”

One lesson that Emmah, a natural changemaker, had to learn early in her role was the importance of bringing people along on the innovation journey.

“Just because I’m really enthusiastic about change, it doesn’t mean everyone else is. I learned to build trust through slowing down and really listening to subject matter experts. Sometimes the status quo is actually the best way forward, but we need to be comfortable interrogating that assumption.”

Now, Emmah is excited to see the innovative mindset spilling into other parts of the business. “It’s been really cool to see how people have been applying the framework not only to new ideas but to their existing processes.”

Emmah believes that every business can benefit from putting innovation at its heart.

“Whether you’re a start-up or an established company wanting to do things quicker, cheaper, better, or take your business into new markets, the process for carefully evaluating and growing an idea is the same everywhere.”

One point of difference, however, is the pace at which ideas can become reality. At the University, Emmah was working on ‘deep-tech’ innovations whose impact sometimes took decades to be realised.

“With deep-tech, the horizons are so long, but an established company like Aspeq can make real moves, so innovations can be realised much quicker, which is exciting.”

When she thinks about the future, Emmah wants to continue her journey as a leader; not so she can tell others what to do, but so that she can enable even more impact through innovation.

“I really enjoy mentoring people through the innovation process, from understanding your ‘customer’ (clients, candidates or senior leadership) to market analysis and communicating your idea in a way that generates buy-in. For a lot of people, it’s a scary but extremely rewarding process and I love coaching people through that journey.”

Ultimately, Emmah knows that innovation is about people, not processes.

“At Aspeq, it’s the people that make the innovation happen. I’m happy to be able to manage our systems and processes that encourage fresh thinking, but it’s people’s enthusiasm and engagement - and the fact that they are people with great ideas - that makes this role so successful.”

Read more about innovation at Aspeq.