You want to improve your innovation management. How can you do it without breaking the bank?

ACTION STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION: ? Assess Current Capabilities: Evaluate your organisation's current innovation strengths and weaknesses. ? Define Innovation Goals: Clearly outline what you aim to achieve with your innovation efforts. ? Develop a Structured Innovation Process: Create a process that includes idea generation, evaluation, development, and implementation stages. ? Measure and Adjust: Regularly review the effectiveness of your innovation management practices and be prepared to adjust as needed. By focusing on these areas, you can cost-effectively enhance your organisation's innovation management, leveraging the unique strengths of all employees to drive creative solutions and sustainable growth.

Improving innovation management without breaking the bank requires creatively using your resources. Using SMART criteria, the OKR method, and other processes help define goals and metrics. HOWEVER... You have a creative innovation team. Ask them to develop new, unique goals, metrics, and methods. You already encourage them to experiment and take risks as part of their role on the innovation team. Trust them. Encourage them. Spur them on to define better models that support your innovation initiatives. #BusinessInnovation

Sorry, LinkedIn, but Innovation is much more than a process in a suitable culture. Among the other essential pieces that need to be in place, at least with some level of maturity, are: - Innovation mandate / strategy - Alignment Core and Innovation on these - Delineated innovation portfolio - Competences (domain and innovation) - Tools, methods and systems - Innovation services (e.g., trend radars, validation) - Scaling / Re-integration in collaboration with Core One comment regarding the last bullet point: Innovation is an end-to-end process. If you do not succeed in Scaling, all previous activities and all the parts mentioned above is just a costly hobby.

100% @Frank Mattes ! “Sorry, LinkedIn, but Innovation is much more than a process in a suitable culture.” And I’d add that once one considers all the requirements you call out, it amounts to innovation being A BUNCH OF WORK, even BEYOND the core process (eg HCD or Lean Startup). Companies won’t put in that effort unless it’s obviously worth it. In other words, it’ll only ever succeed with a “Must-Do” Purpose, at both a project and mandate level. No must-do purpose? Expect to fail once all the challenges pop up!

INNOVATION ON A TIGHT BUDGETS Innovation is critical for competitiveness and adaptability in today's fast-paced environment. ? Embrace Diversity: Value different thinking styles, especially creative and divergent thinking individuals. ? Cultivate Curiosity: Encourage people to ask "WHY" and "WHAT IF". Use team brainstorming sessions. ? Implement Listening Sessions: Hold sessions where all employees can share ideas freely, ensuring diverse insights are gathered. ? Engage Stakeholders: Include employees, suppliers, and customers in the innovation process for fresh perspectives. ? Form Cross-Functional Teams: Combine various departments to work on innovation projects, ensuring a broad range of views. Effective innovation on a budget.

To really drive an innovation culture, focus on fostering cross-functional collaboration. Bring different teams together to blend ideas and perspectives. This kind of teamwork can spark unique solutions. Equally important is strong communication, especially with leadership. Leaders should actively engage with teams, providing clear guidance and showing genuine interest in new ideas. This open dialogue builds trust and encourages everyone to contribute, making innovation a shared goal across the organization.

LEVERAGE THE 3C'S: COMMUNICATE, COLLABORATE AND CO-CREATE. ? Communicate: Ensure clear, open channels of communication across the organisation. Use digital tools and platforms to share ideas and updates on innovation projects. ? Collaborate: Promote teamwork by providing spaces (both physical and virtual) where employees can collaborate on projects. Encourage collaboration with external partners and academia to bring in new ideas. ? Co-Create: Involve customers and clients in the creation process. This can be through beta testing, co-design sessions, or community forums. Feedback from end-users can significantly enhance the relevance and impact of innovations. STAR TEAMS will beat star players.

In my experience, its all about communication. And persistence. Stoke concern about the disruptive threat instead of trying to advertise the benefits of an innovative but unproven business model has proven a way to get stakeholder to act.

INNOVATION IS A TEAM SPORT ? Continuous Learning and Development: Offer training and development opportunities for creative thinking, problem-solving, and innovation management. This could include workshops, online courses, and guest speakers from different industries to inspire and educate. ? Recognise and Reward Innovation: Establish a system to acknowledge and reward innovative ideas and the successful implementation of those ideas. ? Intelligence Gathering: Listen to and observe the market, competitors, and technological trends. Use this intelligence to inform decision-making and strategy development. Encourage employees to share insights and observations they believe could impact the business.

ACTION STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION: ? Assess Current Capabilities: Evaluate your organisation's current innovation strengths and weaknesses. ? Define Innovation Goals: Clearly outline what you aim to achieve with your innovation efforts. ? Develop a Structured Innovation Process: Create a process that includes idea generation, evaluation, development, and implementation stages. ? Measure and Adjust: Regularly review the effectiveness of your innovation management practices and be prepared to adjust as needed. By focusing on these areas, you can cost-effectively enhance your organisation's innovation management, leveraging the unique strengths of all employees to drive creative solutions and sustainable growth.