Innovation and Idea Management: From Ideation to Collaboration to Execution
November 16, 2009
Innovation thrives on a diet of news ideas. Alt: Innovation: What a great idea !
It needs new views, fresh thinking, a different perspective from across the organization.
We’ve noted that Innovation = Creative x Risk Taking. Setting aside risk for the moment, creativity is a central element to the innovation process. But it must continually be nourished with new ideas from a variety of sources.
Ideation is not a single event. It doesn’t originate from a single silo or one person or one department, although it can come from a single source. Ideation thrives in an open environment; think Wikipedia, the open-source, online repository of the world’s specialized knowledge. It is the result of a collaborative process that welcomes minds and teams from across any organization of any size.
How can you foster a fertile ideation environment?
Start by creating an “idea hopper.” This idea bank is the repository of any idea to be pursued, saved, reconsidered – or at least explored.
In the closing scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Ark of the Covenant is crated and stashed in endless warehouse of similar, non-descript crates. This is the polar opposite. Don’t think of the Hopper as a bottomless pit. Think actionable. While this idea database can be managed online or as a Access Dbase, Word or Excel spreadsheet, the key word is “managed.” Ideas come in and are vetted by the Innovation Team and the Chief Innovation Officer [link to previous blog on CIO ]. The CIO will organize ideas in order of importance or relevance based on the organization’s current path or needs. Then the ideas then are presented at the next meeting of the Ideation or Brainstorming Session.
About that session… Brainstorm sessions should be held at a regular interval and include a variety of participants from across the organization. This isn’t just a place for R&D or the New Product team. Sales should be there. So should Marketing. Include Customer Service. Those who interact with customers and have a feel for the shifting tidings of the consumer should have input in ideation – whether in feeding the hopper or digesting its contents.
The meetings also should be structured. They should be scheduled, with an agenda in place so participants know what to expect, the topics of discussion, and the anticipated outcomes. In this instance, the CIO should defer to a facilitator or Innovation Coach who can lead the session with complete neutrality. He or she (or someone designated for that task) will write, chart, graph or otherwise gather every idea presented. There are no bad ideas. All concepts should be filed, prioritized, validated, for future reference and / or use in combination with other ideation session results. The outcome of each meeting besides feeding the hopper is a prioritized list to be worked in in Product Development
Next, feed that hopper. This database needs that constant diet of fresh ideas – especially between brainstorming sessions. Welcome ideas from all corners of the organization – from the C-Suite to the receptionist’s desk. You never know where the next Great Idea will come from.
To be clear, new “ideas” aren’t simply about products. Ideas can include process changes, technological enhancements – anything that represents change in the organization.
In ideation, think green. In those brainstorming sessions, some ideas will rise, some will fall. Throw none away. Those that don’t pass muster at that moment should be placed back in the hopper and recycled. Some ideas fail based on momentary circumstances: bad timing, market conditions, technological disconnect, conflict with the organization’s current needs or vision – any of which can change very quickly. In fact, two ideas discarded today may morph into a better concept tomorrow. Keeping them in the hopper ensures they can be revisited in the future.
The process of ideation isn’t inherently a risk-taking endeavor. But it is part of the experimentation equation. As we’ve noted previously [please link to the blog on Risk], Risk plus Experimentation (plus Failure) equals an Improved Environment for Innovation.
The risk here is to break the mold. Open the silos. Welcome input from across the organization. You might come away thinking, “What a great idea!”
Don’t Just Survive—Thrive: Leading Innovation in Good Times and Bad
July 15, 2009
Authors : Lynda M. Applegate and J. Bruce Harreld
Date Published: June 24, 2009
Innovating Your Way To The Top
July 15, 2009
Published by : Palgrave Macmillan
Date Published: January 2009
Where Innovation Creates Value
June 25, 2009
Author: Amar Bhidé
Date Published: February 2009
Integrating Innovation Style and Knowledge Into Strategy
June 23, 2009
Author: Edward F. McDonough III, Michael H. Zack, Hsing-Er Lin and Iris Berdrow
Date Published: 2008
Institutionalizing Innovation
June 23, 2009
Author: Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson and Joseph V. Sinfield
Date Published: 2008
How Management Innovation Happens
June 23, 2009
Author: Julian Birkinshaw and Michael Mol
Date Published: 2006
The Era of Open Innovation
June 23, 2009
Author: Henry W. Chesbrough
Date Published: 2003
Open Innovation: Why mindset matters most
May 21, 2009
Author: Stefan Lindegaard
Date Published: May 2009
Many of you have brought up the subject of trust in our interactions on open innovation. I agree that trust is an essential component on open innovation. It also comes at many levels – internally as well as externally. Read more
Harvard Business Review: Innovation
January 26, 2009
Click Here for HBR Innovation Articles.
Sign up to receive the latest breaking news, as well as all of your other favorite headlines!
Featured Video
