Often we define an organization or an innovative company only because it operates in new sectors, or considered as such by the media. But it is a mistake because even in many ‘traditional’ sectors there are companies and organizations that make process, product or offer innovations. And behind all these innovations, there are women and men who love their work.
People who have made the African proverb to them “Whoever wants something seriously finds a way, others an excuse” and who know that true innovation is shared innovation capable of generating well-being for the community.
This interview is part of the Innovators column published on www.robertorace.com.
A space in which we try to tell the stories of the Innovators, to discover their ways of thinking, preferences and visions of the world. Trying to better understand what the present and the future hold for us.
———————– Innovators: Anna Dato: true innovation is inclusive!
“My greatest privilege is to be able to dedicate my life to beauty”.
Passionate about art, Bocconian by training, dedicated to Asian cosmetics by profession. Anna Dato, Head of Marketing Asia for Intercos – Italian multinational world leader in the production of cosmetics for the best brands. One of the Italian entrepreneurial excellences who in early December announced the entry into the capital as a minority shareholder of the Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.
Anna works to create the trends and products of the future, studying them for oriental consumers.
In speaking of fundamental values, she likes to start from a quote from Hamlet: “There are more things in heaven and on earth, Horace, than you can dream of in your philosophy”.
Curiosity, openness, and the idea that the way to go is not necessarily the one already written are fundamental elements for those who want to be an innovator. “Chance, luck and destiny”, he explains, “led me to accept an internship at Intercos – a company that I had never heard of, in a sector that I did not yet know I would love very much! The beauty. My luck was to find a job that highlighted not only the skills I had studied for, but also the passions I had accumulated through my personal training. When we talk about cosmetics, and in particular the creation of products, we often see in the object its pure utilitarian aspect: a lipstick is used to color the lips. However there is much more to the thought that forms the product itself: science in a formulation that creates performances never obtainable before, sensitivity in color inspired by art and fashion, sociology in interpreting the culture of the wearer. All this made me fall in love with this sector, and with the company I belong to, which values these skills like no other in our industry “.D. Who is an innovator for you
Why
R. I think that the innovator is the person able to see everyday life with new eyes, having the courage to change what already seems to be working well. Looking beyond the immediate tomorrow, anticipating the change that will be. I believe that the culture of the place is of capital importance in supporting innovative thinking. There are countries that we perceive as very innovative, for example Japan, which nevertheless has a strongly hierarchical culture that discourages dissonant thinking. The culture of innovation must be cultivated, as well as the risk appetite.
I recently read in Francesco Costa’s book – This is America – that a place like Silicon Valley is possible because there are those who invest in ideas, while it is difficult to find the same level of support in Europe. I found myself in great agreement with him: to welcome and support innovation and a fundamental attitude, to be lived in everyday life as a welcome and listening to an unconventional thought. Maybe not necessarily right, but certainly stimulating. Q. What is the innovation that will change the world in the next few years
A. I remember writing in a high school essay, in which I talked about the way in which the world of consumption would evolve in the direction of shortening more and more the time between manifestation of desire and its fulfillment. I took as an example the technological evolution of computers, where simplification had drastically reduced the ignition times, and therefore I would have expected that we would become more and more impatient. If we had managed to shorten the time between wanting and obtaining, we would also have maximized consumption – because we would have lost much less demand along the way.
My idea was not well received by my professor – we were in the late 90s! – but twenty years later I’m still of this opinion.
Simplification and accessibility are the secret of the success of many products.
Let’s think about why so many have bought an iPad: after all it has much less functionality than a computer, and by comparison it is much more expensive for what it can do. My opinion is: because they studied it with the principle of the game for children “the old farm” (the one in which we touch the faces of the animals to make them emit their noise!). The innovation was precisely the simplification, the accessibility that makes a technological tool so intuitive that even a three-year-old child or an elderly Luddite can use it.
In any industry that looks to the final consumer, true innovation is thinking with inclusiveness. D. What is the role of a leader in an organization
A. In a coaching session they made us do an exercise related to our vision of leadership, choosing an image that represented it.
I remember selecting an abstract painting – it must have been Freudian! – because for me the sense of leadership is to give meaning to a rarefied image such as a vision, and to make it understandable and accessible to the rest of the team. But also anticipate change, and act accordingly. Our work actually lives on the idea that we see the future before others.
I also really liked the opinion of a colleague, who select a group of cheerleaders intent on raising one of them. The idea of her is that a good leader must raise the people around him, make them grow, but also be ready to welcome them when they fall.
I’m not a great sportswoman, but this question lights up the image of a group of climbers. A group of interdependent people, linked together, in which every contribution is necessary.
There are those who drive, those who drag themselves, but we save each other.
In this, the driver must welcome the contribution of each of the members of his team, but above all make everyone reach the top of the mountain. D. A person who has left his mark on your life
R. There is certainly a person to whom I owe so much, and whom I thank every day for being my mentor: Dario Ferrari, the founder and president of Intercos.
An enlightened visionary, who created an industry that did not exist, and which is himself the world reference point for the cosmetics industry.
He taught me every day to believe in excellence, that constant change and improvement is the only solution to always be at the forefront, that curiosity is the source to understand what we do not yet know. D. Your greatest fear / your greatest hope
R. I am an adept of positive thinking, I imagine my goals and I don’t think about my fears. D. Your current and future work project.
A. I think beauty ee will always be in my life. The privilege of being in Asia and having a vision of the future at great speed. Our working world is undergoing a radical transformation, also changing the meaning of our business.
From producers we must become better communicators, since in China the evolution seems to be M2C – Manufacturer to Consumers! D. The thing that excites you the most is the one that angers you most.
R. I am in love with my work, and seeing an innovative product gives me a great emotion!
Every time we exceed a limit, it is an extraordinary result.
We talk about technology as if it were an abstract and arid element, yet it is totally human, and the result of a thought, of work, of dedication.
I have great admiration for those who work with dedication and commitment, everything if done with love and beautiful.
We must rediscover our craftsmanship, the savoir faire in the hands of those who work, which is a treasure to be protected as the Japanese do.
On the contrary, sloppiness, distancing from science and knowledge, barbarism, are the decay that we must fight.
However, I see a lot of smart new voices emerging, which have a good following in social media.
And I’m sure that, after the obscurantism of recent years and this terrible pandemic, we are ready for the Renaissance that we deserve!
PS I met Anna following her profile on her Instagram and thanks to her I am traveling with my mind and discovering South Korea.
It is worth following her: https://www.instagram.com/annadato.
