Innovation Management

Managing innovation at scale requires different skills than managing business-as-usual. Explore frameworks and case studies for building repeatable innovation processes.

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40 articles

AI Will Change How You Innovate—Here’s What You Need to Know

AI can improve ideation, validation, and support decision-making in the future. However, current implementations of AI within innovation teams can cause laziness and mediocrity. We are at risk of outsourcing our key differentiators as humans: creativity and empathy. If we let our mental muscles atrophy, our team and our AI models will overlook unconventional strategies that drive disruptive innovation. We will efficiently reinforce the status quo and stifle bold, forward-thinking decisions. Innovators should look to the future and integrate AI into innovation processes as a partner, but not at the expense of building our own skills. We should try out synthetic personas, but only in conjunction with our own validation interviews. We must learn how to spot and compensate for AI biases just as we should our own. We are spending billions of dollars to train the latest AI models. How much are you spending on training your team? For now, innovators still have an edge - but only if they invest in themselves as equal partners.

A.I., Innovation, and Technological Tipping Points

We are living through a major revolution in AI technology. It’s not the invention that changes our lives, it’s the way the inventions are adapted to real use cases. AI is going to change our lives once it is harnessed to create new solutions and unlock new forms of value.

The ROI of Community Innovation

Financial ROI and social ROI are complementary, not competitive. Innovation for the community requires participation from the community. Artificial intelligence will soon be considered part of the community rather than just a tool we use.

Breaking Down Your Innovation Process

Innovation isn't a singular leap; it's a series of calculated, compartmentalized steps that culminate in transformative change. Over-segmenting tasks can dilute the primary objective, while under-segmenting can lead to overwhelming challenges. Continuous feedback and agility within compartmentalized tasks ensure alignment with the broader innovation vision.

How to Boost Innovation with Perspective Games

Innovation requires the ability to shift perspective. Innovation perspective games can be played by an individual or a team to boost their disruptive potential. Changing perspective is a skill that needs to be practiced and developed.

Four Must-Haves in Your Innovation Process

Innovation management has evolved significantly. It's no longer a rigid, one-way path but a dynamic, feedback-driven funnel. Projects can now revisit stages for further development, or take an off-ramp if they cease to align with strategic goals. This approach enables organizations to foster a more resilient, adaptable, and successful innovation process. But most of all, it increases both impact and ROI. In the rapidly changing business landscape, there's no room for static, one-size-fits-all processes. Your innovation process should foster creativity, leverage data, and maintain strategic alignment. By incorporating metered funding, data-driven decisions, bounce gates, and an offramp into your innovation process, you can enhance your new product development process and fuel your organization's future growth. Metered Funding stops funding to failing projects. Data-Driven decisions based on innovation accounting improves ROI. Bounce Gates allow pivots, which preserves lessons learned. Off Ramps for projects that don’t fit the strategy preserves option value.

How to Avoid Parachute Leadership

Be helpful, but don’t derail your team’s work. Stay informed without causing interference. Show your team members they are trusted and valued.

Can You Use a Net Present Value Formula for Innovation Projects?

The Net Present Value formula is a way of collapsing future cash inflows and outflows into today’s value for easy comparison. The Net Present Value formula is not a replacement for Innovation Accounting. The Net Present Value formula can be used within Innovation Accounting for making Pivot-or-Persevere decisions.

Make Strategic Decisions Based on Evidence

Learn the importance of making strategic decisions based on evidence rather than experience, and the benefits of keeping decisions close to the information to drive better outcomes in innovation projects.

Innovation in 2023

If you want to continue innovation in 2023, you need to weather the recession with quantifiable contributions to the bottom line

· 3 min read

Innovation Accounting in Practice

As an early-stage venture, you don’t need a business plan, but you do need a hypothesis-driven business model from Day Zero.

· 11 min read

Do You Need an Innovation Strategy?

If you already control everything, know everything, and can do everything, then you don’t need an innovation strategy. Otherwise, yes, you do.

· 9 min read

Attracting Talent to Innovation Projects

Attracting talent to your innovation project means thinking of potential teammates as customers and writing a value proposition that targets them.

· 11 min read

Early Decisions Are Better Than Later

Is it better to make early decisions with partial information or late decisions with all the facts? Good innovation governance is decisive.

· 5 min read

What Is Innovation Accounting?

Innovation accounting is a method for quantifying innovation investment decisions about individual projects, strategy, and capabilities.

· 14 min read

Measuring Innovation Boards

The decisions made by Innovation boards hold the keys to a company’s future. Those decisions should be measured as rigorously as the projects themselves.

Levels of Innovation Metrics

Successful innovation accounting requires applying the right metrics to the right categories: individuals, teams, projects, portfolios, and ecosystems.

· 14 min read