Think of a scale going from 0 to 100!
Where on the scale would you place the goal of your next innovation process?
Imagine that you place the wish for your upcoming innovation process on a scale from 0 to 100, where the value “0” indicates the incremental innovative measures (improvements to an existing product such as updating an App), and the value “100” indicates the absolute radical innovation (where you invent completely innovative products, such as when the smartphone was invented).
The scale must be understood abstractly as an indication of how transformative the given innovation will be. Radical innovations are characterized by the fact that they change user behavior and cause entirely new markets to emerge. It should be noted that radical innovations are not necessarily better than incremental ones.
What is your wish for the next innovation project?
Where on the scale did you put your finger?
There are generally good chances of success for values at the bottom of the scale, even if you have little experience or don’t use any specially selected innovation tools.
Suppose you have experience and training in innovation processes. In that case, there are good chances of success, even if you go further up the scale because innovation IS a professional discipline that requires knowledge, training in particular tools and a common language.
At Oquam, we have heard too many examples of innovation workshops that have ended with ideas on yellow notes on the wall, in an Excel sheet, or on a Miro board.
If the intention was incremental innovation, i.e. improvements to the existing, then there are good chances that there will be useful ideas between the notes. They just have to be found.
But if the intention is more radical innovation initiatives, it may not be enough to have 50-80 yellow notes on the wall, which we then vote on. We often propose and vote on something we have prior knowledge about because it is difficult to imagine new things outside our horizon of experience. If we want slightly more radical innovations, we need more and different innovation tools to push the ideas in new directions.
We can help you with innovation processes regardless of where you are on the scale.
If your wishes are a bit higher up the scale – and you need help with facilitation – then contact us and hear about the options.
Please also get in touch if you want more incremental innovation.
Get competent advice, innovation tools and training
We teach both facilitation, innovation processes and innovation management, among other things, on specially adapted courses and open courses at IDA and the Technological Institute. In addition, we at Oquam have developed our innovation platform, called Taliz.
Taliz has been specially developed to support innovation processes.
