Practical ideas for innovation

© 2011 Deloitte Global Services Limited

Stan GarfieldMay 2011

Practical Ideas for Innovation


Innovation and knowledge management

1. Innovation is easy to talk about

2. All organizations are in favor of increasing innovation

3. Innovation is hard to actually do

4. Knowledge management should enable and support innovation

5. But how?

2 Practical Ideas for Innovation


Recommended practices1. Use internal and external collaboration for leaders to request ideas

a. Blog regularly to ask for suggestionsb. Reply to comments to let people know what will actually be done

2. Engage communities of practicea. Solicit ideas on the top issues facing the organizationb. Make members believe that their voices are being heard

3. Acknowledge skepticism about idea collectiona. Admit that suggestions may be perceived as a waste of time, since in the

past, no changes were madeb. Counter this perception by implementing new and meaningful changes

to show that things are different now4. Try out new ways of doing things

a. Demonstrate tangible manifestations of conceptsb. Apply successive iterations for continuous improvement

5. Use successful approachesa. Positive Devianceb. Appreciative Inquiry



1. Engage communities of practice

• Ask communities of practice for ideas• Engage with both internal and external communities• Challenge members to collaborate to improve

‒culture‒processes‒tools



2. Borrow shamelessly

• Netflix prize• P&G Connect & Develop• IBM Jams• InnoCentive



3. Experiment

• Conduct experiments to test new methods• Use analytics to analyze the results• Pick the ones that are most effective



4. Implement, improve, iterate

• Ask for suggested improvements‒ use rapid prototyping to try them out‒ then iterate and improve

• Don't‒ overanalyze‒ plan endlessly‒ wait for consensus.

• Risk failure‒ encourage safe-fail‒ avoid fail-safe

• Quickly learn from failure‒ then move on

• Try three experiments‒ then pick the best solution

• Implement new approaches quickly‒ will generate more new ideas



5. Enable innovation

• Support integration of diverse tools• Don’t require a single platform• Integrate tools using

‒APIs‒RSS‒search‒web parts

• Encourage skunk works projects‒use these techniques‒create new features‒build on and connect with existing platforms



6. Read, discuss, brainstorm• Encourage

‒book clubs‒discussion groups‒brainstorming sessions

• Get people thinking about new and better ways of doing things

• Take the best ideas and implement them



7. Collaborate

• Ask people to use collaboration tools to discuss‒ideas for improvements‒new approaches‒breakthroughs

• Tools include‒threaded discussion boards‒blogs‒wikis‒microblogs‒idea submission tools

• These tools can be‒inside‒outside‒across organizations



8. Look outside

• Invite people outside your organization to‒speak on calls‒present at meetings‒participate in workshops

• Adapt their methods for use in your organization• Test new ideas by presenting them to other organizations


http://allbusinessauctions.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/seth-godin.jpg


9. Deviate positively and inquire appreciatively• Use Positive Deviance

‒look for successful outliers‒help increase adoption of these exceptional approaches

• Use Appreciative Inquiry‒identify existing successful processes‒replicate, extend, and build on these


Positive Core

Design“Determinewhat should be”

AffirmativeTopic Choice

Dream“Imaginewhat might be”

Discovery“Appreciatewhat is”

Destiny“Create what will be”


10. Crowdsource

• Set up prediction markets• Use the wisdom of crowds• Choose between alternatives



Recommended books


http://staging.hbp.internetkeep.net/the-innovators-solution

http://staging.hbp.internetkeep.net/the-innovators-dilemma

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0787953598?ie=UTF8&tag=marshgoldslib-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0787953598


Recommended books (authors)1. The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki2. The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way

You Do Business by Clayton M. Christensen3. The Innovator's Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth by

Michael E. Raynor and Clayton M. Christensen4. The Power of Positive Deviance: How Unlikely Innovators Solve the World's

Toughest Problems by Richard Pascale, Jerry Sternin, and Monique Sternin5. The New Age of Innovation: Driving Cocreated Value Through Global

Networks by C.K. Prahalad and M.S. Krishnan6. Leading for Innovation: And Organizing For Results edited by Frances

Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith, and Iain Somerville7. Analytics at Work: Smarter Decisions, Better Results by Thomas H.

Davenport, Jeanne G. Harris, and Robert Morison8. Competing on Analytics: The New Science of Winning by Thomas H.

Davenport and Jeanne G. Harris9. What’s the Big Idea: Creating and Capitalizing on the Best Management

Thinking by Thomas H. Davenport, Laurence Prusak, and H. James Wilson10. The Leader's Guide to Radical Management by Steve Denning



Steve Denning’s 7 principles of continuous innovation

1. Focusing the entire organization on delighting clients2. Working in self-organizing teams3. Operating in client-driven iterations4. Delivering value to clients with each iteration5. Fostering radical transparency6. Nurturing continuous self-improvement7. Communicating interactively



Links

1. Practical Ideas for Innovation http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddj598qm_41787g97dk

2. Implement, Improve, and Iterate http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddj598qm_21wpp22xz

3. Appreciative Inquiry http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/4. Positive Deviance http://www.positivedeviance.org/5. Prediction Markets

http://andrewmcafee.org/2008/04/a_case_for_prediction_markets/6. Netflix Prize http://www.netflixprize.com/7. P&G Connect & Develop http://www.pgconnectdevelop.com/8. IBM Jams https://www.collaborationjam.com/9. InnoCentive http://www.innocentive.com/10. Intuit Brainstorm http://www.intuitbrainstorm.com/


http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddj598qm_41787g97dk

http://docs.google.com/View?id=ddj598qm_21wpp22xz

http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/

http://www.positivedeviance.org/

http://andrewmcafee.org/2008/04/a_case_for_prediction_markets/

http://www.netflixprize.com/

http://www.pgconnectdevelop.com/

https://www.collaborationjam.com/

http://www.innocentive.com/

http://www.intuitbrainstorm.com/


Questions to stimulate discussion

1. What other ideas do you suggest for stimulating innovation?2. What are some examples of successful innovation?3. How can we get past idea submission to actual implementation?4. What would motivate you to participate in an innovation

challenge?5. What is the difference between innovation and invention?



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