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6/11/2008

7 Steps to Innovation

Inc. magazine includes a great article this month which summarizes a seven step innovation process outlined in the new book The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth With Innovation (which btw came out this week)

Seven steps to ensure that your company innovates repeatedly and reliably:

1) Select the Strategy (Look for an underserved market)
2) Connect to Customers (Social Network an idea collector)
3) Generate Ideas (Brainstorming done right)
4) Select an Idea (Time to separate good from great)
5) Prototype and test (bring on the customers)
6) Go to Market (cookies vs cookie dough)
7) Adjust for Growth (The process evolves)

What I find interesting about this approach to innovation, is that is also (at a much higher level) seems strikingly similar to the strategic planning approach we’re currently undertaking this year at MPOW. Although the end results are different (a tactical plan vs. a marketable product) the steps were taking are basically the same to get to the end result. For me, step number seven is perhaps the most significant, for it iterates the importance of evolution both in planning and innovation... even when you think you have the process down, something changes and there's always room for growth. :)

Read the full article here: Innovation: Making Inspiration Routine.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think between selecting an idea and testing it there should be another step. Look for a similar idea that may have been implemented before in some other field and learn from it. This can make testing the idea a lot more easy as you can know what to expect in a real environment. I would like to get your views on innovation in our corporate blog (mahindrauniverse.com),