The Innovation Recipe

I think of the innovation process as a recipe.  Just like cooking, there are no hard and fast rules for innovation, but there are some general principles that will help increase your success rate.  The Innovation Recipe can be used for innovations of all shapes and sizes.  For a small problem, like "how am I going to tell staff about our new sales training?" you might go through the whole process in 15 minutes.  For a major innovation, like a new product or a new system, the process might take 12 months or more.  That's the good thing about a recipe - you can adapt it to suit the situation.  Whether your project is big or small, the first step is to prepare.

Step One: Prepare

Too often we jump straight into solution mode - sometimes this means we select a solution without having a clear picture of what's causing the problem.  It's incredibly valuable to take a step back, and ask yourself some key questions before you dive in:

• What's the problem I'm trying to solve? 
• What's my goal - what am I trying to achieve?
• Can I find a solution on my own or do I need to pull together a team?

What does innovation mean to you?

How many businesses do you know that talk about being more innovative?  How many businesses do you know that are actively increasing their ability to innovate?  How many businesses do you know that have a clear picture of what they mean by innovation? 

For me, innovation is not just about new technologies or new products.  Innovation in the broadest sense is taking a new idea that has the potential to be useful, and implementing that idea with stand out results. 

Innovation is not just about blockbusters - innovation can be "big I" or "little i" innovation.  "Big I" Innovation is the transformational idea that turns a team, a company, a product or an industry upside down with extraordinary results.  "Little i" innovation is the tweaks, the fine tuning we make to our businesses every day or every month that together can have a big impact on the bottom line.

This blog will explore the different ingredients that make up innovation.  In future posts, we'll explore those key ingredients, including:

• The innovation process – the steps to effective innovation
• Skills for innovation – sure, creativity is required to find that great idea, but innovation is also about effective execution
• The role of your environment – how does your environment impact your innovation potential?
• Evaluating your results – how do you measure whether your innovation is a success?

What does innovation mean to you?  We’d love to hear your comments.