A powerful tool for the ideation and development of integral solution. – 3x3 matrix (c)PCAinnovation -

INTRODUCTION:

Our experience in recent years in the?development of innovations to provide new disruptive solutions?for the Latin American market in our outsourcing service called "innovation management office (IMO)" in PCAinnovation?such as: augmented and mixed reality applications, innovation management systems, analytical intelligence platform and others; In addition to supporting our clients to develop and implement portfolios of innovation projects and??the?implementation of the new ISO?56002?Innovation Management System (IMS) standard, we have found that a differential factor which allows?us to develop integral solutions that generate?Value to?the client and other stakeholders, is?the use of tools for the?process of generating ideas, which allow to expand the vision of the innovation teams and?generate solutions outside the box, disruptive and integral business models which?break the chains of behavior that limit innovation opportunities in organizations, such as the one we develop and use?in PCAinnovación,?which we call 3x3 or M9 Matrix, after several successive learning processes in implementations at the level of??organizations in Latin America.?

3x3 MATRIX - KEY ELEMENTS:

According to ISO56002, to create concepts the organizations should: generate new ideas, potential solutions or combinations of existing ones, from internal and external sources, using creative solutions of problems, ideation or other methods.?In addition, it indicates that the ideation process should be supported, not only with ideas related to the product, access and use, but with technological tools and with information and communication technology. It is important to add that according to ISO56000, innovating in essence is creating value, both it creates value for the product, value in access and use value, because innovation has to do with a function of creating value, that is:?

? Innovation = f (value creation in the product x value in access x value in the service or in the use).

You will now notice that the components of the above innovation function are multiplicative, not additive. Do one or two right and one wrong and it doesn't necessarily add up to a positive outcome. Doing one wrong and two right can still doom your investment in innovation to failure. Let's look at the three components of the equation in summary: value creation is self-explanatory. Your investment in innovation must create incremental value, such as to overcome the switching costs of moving to your new solution from the old solution (including the "Do Nothing Solution").?

Typically, organizations have focused on creating new value by making possible modifications to current products or services, which make them more efficient, higher quality or more effective, than previously they were not or creating new psychological or emotional benefits.?

On the other hand, access to value, in addition to being considered part of the value that an organization must deliver to the market, could also be considered as a reduction of friction between the organization, customers and the markets they will serve, allowing to solve challenges when answering questions such as:?How easy is it for customers and consumers to access the value you've created? How well has the product or service been designed to allow people to access value easily? How easy is it to create the solution? How easy is it for people to do business with the organization??How many segments and customers are we giving access to the solution?

While deploying value at the market or value creation in the use of the solution, means helping people understand the value it has created, facilitating its use and how it fits into their lives. The translation of value or value of use is also about understanding where the need for explanation, ease of use and training, is its solution.?

Incremental innovations can usually only be explained to people because they anchor themselves to something they already understand, but radical or disruptive innovations inevitably require some level of education (often long before launch). If done very well, value translation, or ease of use, also helps communicate how easy it will be for customers and consumers to swap their old solution for the new solution.

Therefore, when we talk about thinking about a way to comprehensively devise or create an innovation or a more sustainable (less imitable) business model, we must think about the components of the 3x3 matrix, for which they are shown in Figure #1:

All the definitions described above involve several key elements of idea management: opportunities, ideas, concepts and solutions, use of technology, information and communications technology, value in the product, value in access and value in the deployment or use, among others, which are fundamental to understand the ideation process and the use of the 3x3 matrix?that is, based on?two pillars or axes:?

? X-axis: The creation of value in the product, access and use or transfer, and??

? Y-axis: The creation of value based on the functionality of the product or the use of technology or IT solutions or Digitalization.

IDEATION PROCESS:

The Ideation Process describes the "Opportunity and?Ideas Management Life Cycle", from a systemic point of view of "Inputs-Process-Outputs", as shown in Figure #2, begins with the process of clarifying the strategic intellectsfor innovation (Inputs), thenmoving through the process of managing the opportunity and ideas, from the definition and prioritization of the best opportunities to create value, through the process of generating ideas, concepts and solutions, their refinement, selection and enrichment (Process), to proposing potential innovation projects, which includes the development of?"project frameworks"?including: value proposition, matrix people and the "Jobs to do" of customers, value expected by the organization and the client, financial and implementation plan predictions?based on agile project methodology;?for subsequent evaluation, prioritization and selection to shape the definition of the portfolio of innovation projects (output), that is:

3X3 MATRIX - CREATION OF INTEGRAL SOLUTIONS OUT OF THE BOX:

We will exemplify how the 3x3 Matrix focuses on both: thinking outside the box and thinking about business models or integral solutions with the case of creation of: "modular spaces so that people can live different experiences, without leaving home". During the Covid19 pandemic, people had to live in isolation in their homes and over time many of them sought to live experiences as before the pandemic they lived, but now in the safety of their home.?

On the other hand, imagine an architecture company that saw its revenues substantially reduced by the pandemic, and to get out of the crisis creates an "innovation team"?that focuses on "providing the market with a diversity of modular solutions?such as: offices, gyms, home theater, etc., through developing a new line of modular solutions with a diversity of colors and diverse finishes,?using state-of-the-art technology that ensures sustainability and respect for the environment, for this they describe the opportunity in Table #1:

Opportunity Intentions (Value Proposition) Outcomes

Design modular spaces so that people can live different experiences, without leaving home". People and their families want to live experiences at home, as they lived before the crisis, so we will provide our customers with a diversity of modular solutions such as: offices, gyms, home theater, etc., through developing a new line of modular solutions with diversity of colors and diverse finishes, using state-of-the-art technology that ensures sustainability and respect for the environment.

• Create a new line of modular spaces
• Grow in sales of new solutions
• Provide our clients and their families with new experiences at home

They presented this opportunity to the leadership committee of the architecture company, who sees with very good expectations to launch the solution as soon as possible to the market, since they see that at this moment it is a saving table to give operational continuity to the organization, in such a way that it asks the leader of the innovation team to present a proposal of the project in no more than 6 weeks.?Using the "Agile Innovation" methodology, the innovation team integrates an implementation plan for the six-week innovation project definition phase.

In the six-week plan, the team details that in week 1 (sprint 1), they will integrate all the elements of the innovation team into the process,?for which they summon: the project owner (project leader), and Innovation specialist (scrum aster), team members and the atrocinator??(Member of the high-level leadership committee) to put them on the verge of the importance and process to follow for innovation, define clarity of roles and the governance model they will use and train them in the tools to be used, including the 3x3 matrix.?

To succeed in this first week of the project, the team leader presents to the top-level leadership team the support requirements necessary to succeed over the six weeks: edicated equipment / time, support in innovation and scrum training, requisitions and their disponibility, accountability, consideration and implementation of necessary resources, approving these resources and involving themselves in the process.?

Now the team meets to have sessions of creativity, generation of ideas and integration of concepts and proposed solution. The team starts with everything related to the creation of value based on the functionality of the product, generating many very good ideas such as: container spaces, diversity of solutions for the client, different colors and finishes, among many ideas described in Figure #4.?

It is when the innovation specialist tells them that typically the innovation process includes in most cases only the ideas in terms of functionality of the solution, but that he will explain a matrix called 3x3, which will allow them to think and generate integral and disruptive ideas (out of the box) so he introduces the dimensions of the use of?technology and IT solutions or igitalizació n to complete the solution, explaining why, its use and examples of these two new dimensions of 3x3.?

The team is enthusiastic and generates new ideas, for these two new dimensions, ideas such as: including in the solution technology for automatic income control, rental of technological equipment and accessories (electronic whiteboards, computers, electronic screens, etc.), use of solar panels for energy saving and payment of the service of the modular solution thanks to the saving of electricity payment,?technology for sanitization and temperature in the entry of people to the modular solution, an APP for customization and design of the modular solution, among others that are presented in Figure #4:

Again at the end of this phase, the innovation specialist explains the last three dimensions of the 3x3 Matrix, related to the creation of value for the client: the value in strengthening the functionality of the product, the value in the ease of access and pay-per-use models and the value in the use or service already in operation for the client, summarized in Figure #5:

Subsequently, the team closterizes or integrates all the ideas into twelve concepts and completes the 3x3 Matrix. These concepts include providing customers with modular container-type spaces that include: diversity of options (offices, gyms, home theater, etc.), with sustainable and eco-friendly designs and materials, with the possibility of renting equipment and accessories, customized designs through a design App, with economic access through financing, maintenance and support plans for use,?use of technology for the generation of required energy and payment for savings?in the energy bill, remote monthly support, security technology, among many more concepts that become an integral solution for the client, which are shown in Figure #6:

Finally, the team integrates a visual schematic or visual prototype, which can be seen in Figure #7, which facilitates the presentation of the integral solution, both to the leaders of the organization, as well as to potential users, internal and external experts, in the phases and weeks that continue ahead in the processes of refinement and validation,?Selection by customers, enrichment by internal experts and the use of external experts who are part of the innovation ecosystem of the organization and finally the proposal of the project and its framework for final validation by the high-level leadership committee of the organization.??

At the end of the six weeks, both the innovation team and the high-level leaders of the organization are extremely proud of the solution they reached, since it is comprehensive, disruptive and also generates great value for customers and the market and for the organization, the CEO thanks the innovation team and congratulates them for extraordinary work,?is when the team leader takes the floor and tells a secret to the leaders of the organization: "without the use of the 3x3 Matrix it would have been impossible for us to think outside the box and provide such an integral solution to the market" and concludes "The use of the 3x3 Matrix is a blessing for all those who have the challenge of innovating and generating value".?

ABOUT AUTHOR:

Alvaro Reynoso is an Industrial Engineer, graduated from a Postgraduate Degree in Total Productivity Management from the University of Miami and a Master's Degree in Business Management and Administration from EAE Barcelona. He is a certified evaluator of the Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence Program Quality Award of the United States of America and the Ibero-American Model in Management Excellence - Fundibeq. He is Certified in Leadership for Innovation by MIT, in addition to Orange Belt in Innovation Magement System ISO 56002, in CPI Certified Professional innovator and in Black Belt in Lead Auditor in Innovation Management System ISO 56002, by the International Association of Innovations Professionals (IAOIP), where he is currently Director of the Latin American Chapter and Member of the World Board. He is currently the President of the Guatemala Innovation Management System Team, working on the design of the new ISO 56000 standard called Mirror Committee GT- TC279 – IMS ISO 56000, he is also director of PCAinnovation, a company focused on consulting and information systems for the implementation of ISO 56002 – Innovation Management System,?supporting companies and institutions throughout Latin America. He was the winner of the 2020 National Innovation Award for applications in augmented and mixed reality in the maintenance and training process in the industry. He is a facilitator in different certification processes in GIOB - Innovation Management at the Orange Belt level under ISO 56002 in Ecuador, Peru, Guatemala, Mexico and in other countries of the region and professor in multiple business schools in Latin America.