10 Rules of Innovation

10 essential Factors to create & grow your new Business

from Innovation Excellence.com 10 Nov 14 enhance by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz

Robert’s Rules of Innovation™ provides the imperatives to deliver profitable growth through Innovation. From the I of Inspiration to the N of Net Result, it addresses all elements that will lead to a successful & sustainable Innovation strategy for your new or older business.

[I] Inspire & Initiate. The first imperative is to Inspire. Innovation via new ideas is pointless without buy-in and support from your people. The leader of your organization, has to inspire, support & help drive the process. For inspiration to take place, the leader has to be regularly and personally involved, so that everyone is on the same page.

[N] No Risk, No Innovation. or No Guts, no Glory. A key imperative to success is Risk Taking. Without risk, there can be no Innovation. Champions of organizational Innovation must have, and encourage, a tolerance for failure & enthusiasm for risk taking. Risk requires investment (people, time, capital), and willingness to invest without complete ROI assurance.

[N] New Product Development. One of the two key processes is a formalized, NPD process is a must, from simple to sophisticated. Overall, it is important that the NPD process must be a for almost everyone – all business functions must be aware of the process.

[O] Ownership. Innovation needs ownership – a champion within the organization. The champion must convince others to take calculated risks and at times work outside of one’s comfort zone. The champion must take responsibility for project tasks, decisions, & deliverables – which need to be clearly understood & communicated.

[V] Value Creation. The key to optimizing sustainable Innovation programs is Value Creation. The customer/consumer Value Proposition is the goal to ultimately gain a financial payback. Customer value can be created through the actual value-added of the new product, once you find that delicate balance between cost, price & ROI.

[A] Accountability. Although the most difficult to create & maintain, every successful company culture needs accountability. Accountability is not an after-the-fact behavior. Holding others accountable begins by communicating very clear expectations and, perhaps, even getting written agreements. A sustainable Innovation program with accountability should be a goal of every Innovation Champion

[T] Training & Coaching. Proper training & coaching in the NPD process is essential and the way to creative, reinforce & enhance company culture & mindset.

[I] Idea Management. processes/system long-term development is essential to the Innovation effort. Idea creation should be harnessed by a process with dedicated resources, with NPD & long term Vision working together. Ideation and the management of the Ideation Process pack the front end of the NPD funnel with a wealth of viable concepts and new products come out the other end.

[O] Observe & Measure. Observation, tracking & measurement of NPD results are essential to optimal ROI. When creating innovation, it is vital to set metric goals and track these metrics. Observation & measurement – in terms of the performance of the program implementation needs to be built-in as a recurring element.

[N] Net Results, Net Rewards. Innovation is ultimately about achieving ROI – derived from the strategic “ideas-to-profit” goals. Reward and recognize the people who assisted in the profitable growth of the new or improved product or an idea produced, that is essential for a sustainable growth of the company.

Comment: What can you add about Innovation?