APPENDIX B
Innovation Process Checklist
Using an expert team consisting of influential individuals who represent senior leaders and other key players (project manager, business visionary, product specialists, architect, and lead technologist), perform an assessment and opportunity selection.
1. Strategy Assessment
1.1 Review your organization’s strategic plans, goals, and objectives.
• If the strategic goals have not been decomposed into specific objectives, convene a small expert team to do so.
• Look for new goals/objectives/opportunities. Use creativity techniques to “think out of the organization.”
• Validate the strategy, goals, objectives, and opportunities with the appropriate senior executive(s).
1.2 Determine which objectives/opportunities have not been met.
1.3 Determine if a project/program is underway for unmet objectives/opportunities.
1.4 Prioritize objectives/opportunities that have not been addressed according to level of innovation and value of expected business benefits.
1.5 Develop a corporate scorecard for all unmet objectives/opportunities.
2. Internal Current-State Assessment
2.1 Assess your organization’s internal environment (process, organization, locations, data, applications, technology, project/program/portfolio management, business analysis).
2.2 What problems or opportunities have not yet been addressed? Focus on:
• Processes that touch the customer
• Opportunities to innovate the value chain (processes that flow value through your organization to your customers) with breakthrough solutions.
2.3 What strategic goals/objectives are being hindered because problems/opportunities have not been addressed? What strategic objectives can be advanced if the problems/opportunities are addressed?
2.4 For the unaddressed problems/opportunities, what barriers have prevented solving the problems or seizing the opportunities?
2.5 What will determine when it is time to solve the problems?
2.6 Assuming the time is right, select the aspects of the business that need to be changed. (Key criterion: There is an opportunity to achieve unmet strategic goals/objectives through innovation.)
2.7 Define the opportunity you have to innovate to make a significant difference to your company:
• State the opportunity/problem.
• Identity all potential solutions using creative brainstorming techniques.
• Examine the feasibility of each option.
• Describe the most innovative solution option.
• Describe how the solution will bring about significant innovation, leading to a stronger competitive position in the marketplace.
2.8 What success criteria will ensure that you have addressed the issue through innovation and significantly improved your competitive position? What is the expected value in terms of business benefits?
2.9 How will you monitor progress to make sure the problem will remain solved or the opportunity will remain positive over time?
2.10 Develop a corporate scorecard for all high-value problems/opportunities to achieve unmet strategic goals/objectives through innovation.
3. External Current-State Assessment
3.1 Assess your organization’s external environment (well-known competitors, start-ups, recent failed product or service introductions, demand for your current product line, pent-up or unspoken demand for innovative products/services).
3.2 What opportunities do you have to create something new, innovate, and disrupt the current competitive positioning in your favor?
3.3 What strategic goals/objectives are being hindered because the opportunities have not been pursued? Which strategic goals/objectives will be advanced?
3.4 What has stopped you from pursuing the opportunities?
3.5 What will determine when it is time to pursue the opportunities?
3.6 Rank opportunities according to level of innovation and potential business value. Select the highest value opportunities that advance strategies.
3.7 Define the opportunity you have to innovate to make a significant difference to your company:
• Identity all potential solutions using creative brainstorming techniques.
• Examine the feasibility of each option.
• Describe the most innovative solution option.
• Describe how the solution will result in breakthrough innovation, leading to a significantly stronger competitive position in the marketplace.
3.8 What success criteria will ensure that you have seized the opportunity through innovation? What is the expected value in terms of business benefits?
3.9 How will you monitor progress to make sure that the problem will remain solved or the opportunity will remain positive over time?
3.10 Develop a corporate scorecard for the most innovative and highest value opportunities.
4. Opportunity Selection
Select from among the opportunities identified during the assessments. Facilitate the group to reach agreement on a high-level plan for closing the gaps between the current state and the future vision.
4.1 Rank all identified opportunities based on expected level of innovation and business benefit.
4.2 Conduct a feasibility analysis for the top-priority opportunities. Assess the following aspects of feasibility:
• Economic feasibility: Can we afford to invest in the opportunity?
• Time-to-market feasibility: Can we meet the market window in time to disrupt the current competitive positioning and leap ahead?
• Commercial change feasibility: Can we manage the groundbreaking commercial practices?
• Organizational change feasibility: Can we manage the organizational changes needed to support the new product/service?
• Level of exposure feasibility: Can we meet regulatory and other environmental constraints?
• Technological feasibility: Does the technology exist and is it proven?
• Knowledge and skill feasibility: Do we have, or can we quickly acquire, the knowledge, skills, and expertise we need to field the innovation team?
• Clarity feasibility: Is the opportunity clear and unambiguous; is the solution defined and achievable?
• Requirements feasibility: Are requirements understood and unambiguous?
• Political feasibility: Can we secure management approval of the groundbreaking innovation?
• Market feasibility: Will people in our target market embrace the new product or service?
4.4 Select the most feasible opportunity and build the business case.