Going Once, Going Twice, Going Three Times: Selling Your Idea
People cannot appreciate the value your idea offers if you fail to convey its relative advantage. In this article, the innovation architect Doug Collins shares a simple, good example of telling the right story at the right time to the right audience. Save this one for your clip file.
Results of a study on excellence in the Fuzzy Front-End (PART 2): Where leading firms are setting their priorities
This is the second part of a 2-part series on a study that innovation.support conducted. In the study we wanted to find out where leading firms from various industry sectors set their priorities in developing the early phase of their innovation funnels (“Fuzzy Front-End”). In this article we want to provide you with the key findings of our study.
How to Achieve Excellence in the Fuzzy Front-End – Part 1
The term “Fuzzy Front-End” (FFE) has been established for the early stage of innovation which determines the innovation effectiveness and hence ultimately innovation success. We wanted to better understand where leading firms are setting their priorities in the FFE currently and where they see things going in the future. To answer this, we conducted a study. Our train of thought and the main findings are in a two-part article series published here.
The Super Heroes of Solar
What is the real value of participating in innovation programs? In this article Rob Hoehn looks at his favourite example, working with the Department of Energy. They started by asking the public what the most pressing problems were when it came to making solar a cost-competitive resource for every citizen and then asked that same crowd to come forward with possible solutions to the top-voted problems.
Taking Action: Your Innovation Master Plan
The focus of the The Innovation Formula is on the innovation process that makes sense for small businesses, where lean, simple, and fast are essential. You may also be interested in a view of the innovation process that’s suited to larger companies, so this chapter provides an overview of the Innovation Master Plan framework that we use when we’re working with larger organizations on innovation projects and initiatives.
Overcommitting and Underutilizing Resources is Risky Business
Bringing innovative products, methods, and ideas to market requires companies to apply resources to their most promising concepts and that can be expensive, requiring lots of talent, if they want to be fast and first to market. The problem is that most companies overcommit their limited resources by approving more ideas than they execute. They do it because they lack a clear view into their resource capacity.
The Critical Lead Time to Eruption in Brainstorming Sessions
Dr. Stephen Sweid has conducted more than a hundred structured group brainstorming sessions in recent years, as well as many one-to-one discussion sessions as a consultant and trainer. He has observed a number of common patterns related to timing and evolution of the brainstorming process.
Elements of a Successful Innovation Roadmap
Countless articles argue: To remain competitive, companies need to consistently build their innovation portfolio. Value-oriented improvement and new developments must permeate the business. This article discusses a structured approach, known as a Rapid Innovation Cycle, which brings a repeatable process to innovation, empowering individuals to contribute more and organizations to look beyond themselves—all leading to a higher success rate.
Should I Talk About My Co-creation Partners?
Research and practice have investigated firms’ benefits of co-creation with external stakeholders, such as more creative ideas, reduced development costs, and improved product quality. However, little is known about how consumers perceive products and their firms that communicate about such co-creation activities. Using two experimental studies, we investigated how consumers’ knowledge about the involvement of different types of stakeholders during the innovation process changes the adoption of new products.
The Death of Innovation Crowdsourcing (As We Know It)!
Ideation focused crowdsourcing has been around for some time, but the approach is often not producing the desired business results in order to justify continued investments. How does the model need to change in order to drive real business value?
Methods of Measuring Ideas for Innovation
Turning ideas into numbers and knowing the characteristics of the Ideal Idea (0.00iur) is like having a compass and knowing the safe harbor where the minimal risks of innovation converge. Mathematically identifying desired ideas by users, extracted from simplified mathematical formulas, is the Holy Grail that eliminates uncertainties and passionate discussions, which are unhelpful in choosing ideas.
Corporate Open Innovation Portals, Part II: Two Successful Case Examples
Jos Tissen of Unilever, based in the Netherlands, and Shawn Heipp of Elmer’s Products, based in Ohio, USA, have something in common. Each manages his company’s corporate innovation portal, the website used to encourage technology solution submissions from external customers, suppliers, inventors, and businesses. Tissen and Heipp describe their unique portal implementation choices and their results to date.
It Works! The ‘Results Equation’
We are moved by goals. The resolve to reach the finish line pushes us forward: at work, in life. Why then do we keep idea management initiatives alive when it’s not clear what results they deliver (if any)? And how often have we yearned for a formula that definitely makes it all happen?
Challenge Question Formation for Crowdsourcing
Organizations that pursue the inquiry-led form of collaborative innovation often have an outcome in mind. They may seek the “low-hanging fruit” of immediately actionable ideas. They may seek ideas that help to re-envision the business. In this article innovation architect Doug Collins reflects on how the savvy practitioner manages the challenge question formation process to help the sponsor achieve their desired goals. The key? Knowing how to dial up and dial back the level of transformation incumbent within each question.
How to Build a High Performance Innovation Culture
Innovation is the mantra in leadership these days. Isolated innovation efforts abound. Still, most likely, your innovation program will fail, as many do. Not because you’re incapable of good innovation or because you’re lacking a mandate, but because you’ve probably overlooked some fundamental pre-requisites. Don’t worry, we have good news.
In Pursuit of “Actionable” Ideas
Engagement matters on the front end of innovation. Tangible results matter on the back end. Organizations that pursue the practice of collaborative innovation seek, ultimately, actionable ideas: ideas whose implementation yields benefits.
Eight Important Facts about NPD and R&D Portfolio Management
Often the tasks at hand take our focus off of the big picture. In new product development (NPD) and R&D portfolio management, there are several “givens” that may seem obvious when stated but are often overlooked. Bring your attention back to these eight tried and true ways to improve your portfolio management and increase your product development productivity.
The Dirty Maple Flooring Company Enters the Digital Age: Part 19
How might we measure our practice of collaborative innovation? What story do we tell by the factors we identify and the indicators we track? Does the plot interest our audience?
Corporate Open Innovation Portals: An Active Part of an Open Innovation Strategy
As part of the Open Innovation movement, many companies now actively solicit technical solutions, products and business ideas from innovators, customers, suppliers, and the broader marketplace of technology providers. Some companies have begun utilizing structured innovation submission programs, typically implemented through their corporate websites. This article, the first in a two-part series, helps companies understand Collaborative vs. Direct Portals, and the importance of IP-anti-contamination and efficient filtering in choosing the best innovation portals for their unique situations.
Forecasting Success in Innovation Teams
A 2012 study by the Harvard Business Review surfaced several interesting findings about the practice of innovation for the enterprise, including the innovation ambition matrix, which details how “firms that excel at total innovation management simultaneously invest at three levels of ambition, carefully managing the balance among them.”
Bringing Maturity to the Front-End: 5 Best Practices for Building Capability
Knowing the best practices to follow is key to avoiding the pitfalls in new product development (NPD) process integration. Whether you’re a ways down the path toward a mature architecture or just getting started, here are five tips gathered from 30+ years of helping product development organizations improve their productivity and mature their full architecture of NPD.
Shark Tank Your Gate Meetings
A gated product development process is often implemented by organizations to assist in scrutinizing projects throughout their lifecycle to ensure only the fittest survive. Unfortunately, many of the checks and balances lack the teeth required to kill doomed projects before they squander resources. How can a TV show provide valuable insight into your gate meetings? Stay tuned to learn more.
The Dirty Maple Flooring Company Enters the Digital Age: Part 15
Part fifteen of the series finds our protagonist Charlie Bangbang mulling sustainability. How might he help Dirty Maple sustain the momentum generated by the launch of their first collaborative innovation challenge? What motivates people to continue to engage? Is innovation part of everyone’s day job? Is leadership?
Innovation Golden Rules
In a February 2014 presentation, Herman Wories of the DSM Innovation Center made a compelling statement about the role of innovation in any organization: “Innovation is no longer a competitive advantage: it’s a competitive necessity. In order to keep up, you need to continuously innovate.”