Keeping an open mind is the key for innovation and that’s why we talk to others about innovation and how they do it. This time Fredrik Tukk of Marsk Drilling found some time to answer a few questions.

What is your motivation in joining Plug and Play and what output do you expect. What is Plug and Play offering that you don’t have access to.

Fredrik: We are evaluating different partners, Plug and Play being one of them, which are connecting start-ups and corporates. As we are increasing our innovation efforts and are scaling up we need to find the right start-ups which can assist us in developing solutions for the future. We have gained good experience by working with start-ups already and want to increase this work. It is too time consuming for us to do it ourselves from scratch and so we are looking to do it with a networking partner.

I heard you’re having 25 innovation managers at the moment. This sounds quite a lot to me. How is it organization wise? Where in the hierarchy are they located?

Fredrik: Maersk Drilling is focusing on innovation as a key driver to deliver on our strategy „Smarter Drilling for Better Value“. We are involving the whole organization to drive development but also customers and end users of the solutions we develop. Innovation is organized in the same department as our Commercial department to secure a close link between the ideas and customers and to make sure the solutions are benefitting our customers in the end. Innovation for growth is also one of the four focus areas for 2019. 

We are always fighting for acceptance within our organization. How is it at your company? Is innovation something that everyone understands?

Fredrik: Innovation takes time and it´s a cultural change, where some people are more interested in adopting the new ways of working. We have shown over the last two years that we add value to our customers. And this has also lead to the top leadership team´s focus on innovation. So one key is the top management’s commitment. We are also very open and inclusive and trying to involve people of all hierarchy levels from all departments to spread the knowledge and interest for innovation. But of course communication is key. It´s important to get the method/approach right, build the right team, upskill them and focus on the most important problems that should be solved. 

And finally: why are you working ‘agile’ and what exactly does it mean? Where is the difference to other working styles?

Fredrik: We have been working in classical waterfall and project method approaches for many years. Delivery time is long and flexibility low with this approach. When we tried out an agile approach with one-week sprints it turned out to be a lot more successful and we could cut down on the delivery time for projects. We went from months to weeks. It´s also a method where you get input from the end-users and customers early on in the process which means designing the right solutions and changing it along the way results in a better and more adaptable solution.

Thank you very much Fredrik for your time and your inspiring insights!

Christa Kloibhofer-Krampl