PM Network - July 2015

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FRAMING INNOVATION
Ideate

It’s important to explore a lot of ideas—some good, some mediocre—in order to identify the best one and develop truly innovative products.

In this first phase, solicit ideas from various sources across teams, innovation labs, customers, suppliers, partners and even competitors. Then log them in a central repository where each idea is measured against defined criteria and given a score based on a weighted average formula.

The formula could comprise parameters such as cost, return on investment, payback period, market size, strategic alignment rank and risk. Once top-ranked ideas have been selected, ideally using a portfolio management system, prioritize them based on enterprise resources availability.

Examine the ideas with your team to pick the best, most innovative idea. The bubble chart is an indispensable tool for depicting the ideas portfolio. For example, the horizontal axis can represent cost, the vertical axis can represent risk, bubble size can represent ROI and color can represent status. Ultimately, the team will have to deliver a business case for the idea and submit it for final approval.

Without a rigorous and tailored framework to manage the innovation practice, realizing the benefits of innovation endeavors is unlikely. Instead, the process collapses due to problems, such as the lack of a chief innovation officer, the wrong ideas being implemented or the lack of a post-imple-mentation process that measures actual benefits against forecast ones.

When an organization has a formal innovation framework that is properly aligned with business strategy and governed with key indicators, it’s easy to decide whether innovation is on track or derailed.

Lay the foundation for a robust, structured innovation framework, led by a chief innovation officer and adopted by all other teams, in three phases: Ideate, innovate and capitalize. Here’s a guide for successfully setting up this framework.