What's your strategy for learning from innovation failures and successes?

1 Define your goals and metrics

Before you start any innovation project, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. This will help you align your team, stakeholders, and resources, as well as set realistic expectations and benchmarks. You can use tools like the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) or the OKR framework (Objectives and Key Results) to define your goals and metrics.

2 Experiment and test

Innovation is not a linear process, but a cycle of experimentation and testing. You need to validate your assumptions, hypotheses, and ideas with real data and feedback from your customers, users, or partners. You can use methods like the Lean Startup approach, the Design Thinking process, or the Build-Measure-Learn loop to design, prototype, and test your solutions in a fast and iterative way.

3 Analyze and learn

After each experiment or test, you need to analyze the results and learn from them. You need to identify what worked, what didn't, and why. You need to compare your actual outcomes with your expected outcomes and see if you met your goals and metrics. You need to use tools like the Learning Plan or the Experiment Report to document your findings and insights.

4 Share and communicate

Learning from innovation is not only an individual or a team activity, but also an organizational one. You need to share and communicate your learnings with other teams, departments, or units that can benefit from them or contribute to them. You need to use platforms like the Innovation Hub or the Knowledge Base to store and access your learnings. You need to use channels like the Innovation Newsletter or the Innovation Showcase to spread and celebrate your learnings.

5 Adapt and improve

Learning from innovation is not a one-time event, but a continuous process. You need to adapt and improve your strategy, processes, and outcomes based on your learnings. You need to use frameworks like the Pivot or Persevere decision or the Feedback Loop to decide whether to change or continue your course of action. You need to use practices like the Retrospective or the After Action Review to reflect on your performance and identify areas for improvement.

6 Foster a learning culture

Learning from innovation is not only a skill, but also a mindset and a culture. You need to foster a learning culture in your organization that encourages curiosity, experimentation, feedback, collaboration, and growth. You need to use strategies like the Growth Mindset or the Learning Organization to promote a positive attitude towards learning. You need to use incentives like the Innovation Award or the Learning Badge to recognize and reward learning behaviors.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?