Innovation in the Age of Adaptability: Business Model Innovation Sprint!

This article is the third in a series I am writing on Innovation in the age of adaptability. The first article was dedicated to address the needed mindset to innovate in the age of adaptability. The second article is taking the mindset into a more practical and tangible perspective by addressing a real life and current example: IKEA.

To get the full perspective, please read the articles in order of publishing.

I find the IKEA case as fascinating. For a business designer, it is important to be inspired by challenges and to be able to imagine potential. IKEA case is exactly that.

I designed and prototyped a process to innovate business models and I am going to share it with everyone in the coming couple of articles. The sprint is three days long and it is designed to help existing companies create value innovation!

Step 1: Research and Ideation

The basic research conducted on IKEA has offered plenty of information on its business model and the environment it is currently in. A simple analysis has clearly showed how the environment clearly affects the current IKEA business model and how it presents a clear threat to its future.

Inspiration

Before we start to ideate, it is important to get inspired with what is already out there. I usually collect a series of startups and businesses who are doing inspiring work innovating by creating value for the customer and by the customer. I add to them some feasible new tech applications that are pushing the envelope. Why do I do that? Well, the answer is simple; an ideation session will be limited by the imagination of the attendees. So, I make sure to expand and stretch the imagination as much as possible before we start ideating. Let us just call it ambitious imagination. Check these companies and startups for inspiration.

Challenge Definition

Before we start the ideation challenge, a second step is needed: defining the challenge for the ideation session.

Now let us go back to IKEA. Now imagine you are on the IKEA innovation team and you are seeking to innovate new business models that will meet the challenges of its fast changing environment. So you conducted your primary research and identified the main challenging points to your business model. (the red bubbles)

Once you completed your primary research, check which building blocks are the most affected by those challenges. As you can probably see, it is the Desirability that is most affected in the business model.

Now, let us add all the unique positives in IKEA's business model (the green bubbles). You will notice that they are mainly in the Feasibility side of the business model.

Now that we have defined the challenge, let us frame it in a "How might we" sentence.

How might we leverage IKEA?s Key resources, activities and partners to create a more desirable and viable future business models?

The Ideation Session

Now that we have everything in order and ready, let us play a game : )The Ideation Tarot is an ideation game designed especially to help corporate innovators create and explore innovative business model ideas using ambitious imagination.

To answer the "how might we..." question, we will create answers using the following ad-lib:

What if we leveraged (blue cards) and applied (yellow cards) , using ( green cards) to create new value propositions (new desirability) and revenue streams ( new viability) for IKEA?

The Blue Cards: they contain all the green bubbles on IKEA's business model ( mainly the Feasibility )

The Yellow Cards: they contain business model shifts introduced by Business Model inc. you can can find out all about it here. For the sake of this exercise, we will only use five out of the six mentioned below.

1. "ThePlatformShift:fromPipelinetoPlatform.Valueiscreatedin the interaction, not in the transaction;
2. TheDigitalShift:from Physical to Digital (and vice versa).Value is created in accessibility and filters;
3. TheExponentialShift:from Linear to Exponential. Value is created in supporting exponential growth by means of a self-sustainable value mechanism in your business models;
4. The Stakeholder Shift: from Shareholder to Stakeholder. Value is created not with shareholders only but in moving beyond profit; Profit with a Purpose;
5. The Circular Shift: from Singular to Circular. Value is created in reuse and reduction of waste and a value proposition customers are willing to pay for."

The Green Cards: they contain some of the latest trends in technology and R&D.

They have a special card "the golden card" which offers the possibility to combine any two green cards and use them for the exercise.

How to Play? Example

Remember, we are ideating! so there are no good or bad ideas. Defer judgments, go for quantity not quality! And do not refine your ideas just yet, keep them RAW.

So you shuffled the cards, and picked up one blue, one yellow, and one green.

What if we leveraged IKEA's strong brand name and applied a shift from pipeline to platform, using budgeting/payment tech?

Potential answer: What if we create an IKEA platform for interior designers who want to help IKEA customers furnish their homes within a certain budget per room?

Remember, we are ideating! so there are no good or bad ideas. Defer judgments, go for quantity not quality!

Evaluation

Give yourself 30 to 60 minutes playing with the cards. write down all the ideas on a white board so that it is visible for everyone in the room.

Now it is time for Evaluation.

Write down all the ideas with its possible revenue stream and simply give it a rating based on its assumed Desirability, Feasibility and Viability potential.

Now select the top three to five ideas and get them ready to the next step: business model prototyping discussed in the next article.

I believe this process can be applied to any existing company. All you have to do is replace the content of the blue cards with whatever you discover during the primary research phase.

Next article will take you into the next phase of the sprint; business model prototyping.

For the Ideation Tarot game set, cards and presentation explaining the game, please comment below with your email address.