Brainstorming

A good way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas from which to choose! 

1. Brainstorming is a Creativity Supertool and also a team sport ... support your team members!
2. No criticism ... no "devil's advocates" allowed!
3. Anything goes … wild, crazy, impractical, ingenious ideas encouraged!
4. Go for quantity, not quality, of ideas!
5. All ideas encouraged!
6. Piggyback, improve, combine ideas ... be an "angel advocate"!
7. Record all ideas so nothing gets lost!
8. Filter ideas later, not during the brainstorming session!
9. Set a time limit for the session, then stick to it!

Variation ... brainwriting: the general process is that, in a group, ideas are recorded by each individual who thought of them ... they are then passed on to the next person who uses them as a trigger for their own ideas.

Phases of Innovation

1. Preparation ... focus on the problem or opportunity, and who it affects
2. Exploration ... identify current solutions, alternatives, and substitutes
3. Stimulation ... use creativity techniques to trigger new ideas, concepts, and solutions
4. Incubation ... give the new ideas some time and thought
5. Illumination ... identify new ideas, concepts, and solutions
6. Selection ... establish and use clear criteria for selecting the "best" concept
7. Planning ... decide how to implement the concept
8. Implementation ... put the plan and concept to work
9. Evaluation ... determine if the new concept is working
10. Iteration ... apply incremental improvement to the concept, or start over

Elements of a Successful Innovation

Relative advantage ... the perceived superiority of an innovation over the current product or solution it would replace. This advantage can take the form of economic benefits to the adopter or better performance.

1. Compatibility ... the perceived fit of an innovation with a potential adopter’s exiting value, know-how, experiences, and practices.
2. Complexity ... the extent to which an innovation is perceived to be difficult to understand or use The higher the degree of perceived complexity, the slower the rate of adoption.
3. Trialability ... the extent to which a potential adopter can experience or experiment with the innovation before adopting it The greater the trialability, the higher the rate of adoption
4. Observability ... the extent to which the adoption and benefits of an innovation are visible to others within the population adopters. The greater the visibility, the higher the rate of adoption by those who follow.
5. Functional performance ... an evaluation of the performance of the basic function
6. Acquisition cost ... initial total cost
7. Ease of use ... use factors
8. Operating cost ... cost per unit of service provided
9. Reliability ... service needs and useful lifetime
10. Serviceability ... time and cost to restore a failed device to service
11. Compatibility ... fit with other devices within the system

SCAMPER

To create a new product, service, or process, try applying "SCAMPER" to an old one. SCAMPER is an acronym for ...

1. Substitute ... What can you substitute? What can be used instead? Who else instead? What other ingredients? Other material? Other process? Other power? Other place? Other approach? Other sounds? Other forces? ... "Instead of ... I can ..."
2. Combine ... What can you combine or bring together somehow? How about a blend, an alloy, an assortment, an ensemble? Combine units? Combine purposes? Combine appeals? Combine ideas? ... "I can bring together ... and ... to ..."
3. Adapt ... What can you adapt for use as a solution? What else is like this? What other idea does this suggest? Does past offer a parallel? What could I copy? Who could I emulate? ... "I can adapt ... in this way ... to ..."
4. Modify, minimize, magnify ... Can you change the item in some way? Change meaning, color, motion, sound, smell, form, shape? Other changes? ... Also: 'Minify': What can you remove? Smaller? Condensed? Miniature? Lower? Shorter? Lighter? Omit? Streamline? Split up? Understate? ... Also: Magnify: What can you add? More time? Greater frequency? Stronger? Higher? Longer? Thicker? Extra value? Plus ingredient? Duplicate? Multiply? Exaggerate? ... "I can modify/minimize/magnify.. in this way ... to ..
5. Put to another use, re-use ... How can you put the thing to different or other uses? New ways to use as is? Other uses if it is modified? ... "I can re-use ... in this way ... by ..."
6. Eliminate, elaborate ... What can you eliminate? Remove something? Eliminate waste? Reduce time? Reduce effort? Cut costs? ... "I can eliminate ... by ..."
7. Rearrange, reverse ... What can be rearranged in some way? Interchange components? Other pattern? Other layout? Other sequence? Transpose cause and effect? Change pace? Change schedule? ... "I can rearrange ... like this ... such that ..."

[Thank you, Robert Eberle and Alex Osborn]

Innovation Categories

Innovation has a revolutionary reputation, but an evolutionary reality!  

An innovation is (simply) Something New and Better ...

• Something: a product, service, process, methodology, or market positioning. 
• New: didn't exist before in this market space.
• Better: desirable benefits, a lower price, or both ... compared to the available alternatives.

That's not to imply that the innovation process is simple, by no means!  It can be quite complex, even if the final result doesn't necessarily reflect such.

Some types of innovation are pretty simple, pretty straight-forward. A new hot dog stand on a corner can be an example of "positioning" innovation ... simple, yet it does provide something new and better.

Other innovations are indeed quite complex and required high levels of intellect, resources, skills, education, and expertise.

Here are some general categories of innovation:

1. Incremental … basic design concepts are reinforced, linkages between modules are unchanged
2. Component or modular … basic design concepts are overturned, linkages between modules are unchanged
3. Architectural … linkages between modules are changed, basic design concepts are reinforced
4. Radical … basic design concepts are overturned, linkages between modules are changed
5. Disruptive ... technological discontinuity
6. Application ... technology application creates new market ... killer application
7. Product ... improved performance, dominant design
8. Process ... more efficient and/or effective processes
9. Positioning ... establishing a venture in a new space
10. Experiential ... improved customer experience
11. Marketing ... improved marketing relationships
12. Business model ... reframe the value proposition or value chain
13. Structural ... responds to structural changes in the industry
14. Service … give the same products but with much better service
15. Paradigm ... good luck! If we want a paradigm shift, we'll need a solid combination of several simpler innovations!

Types of Innovation

1. Products
2. Services
3. Processes
4. Business methods
5. Business model
6. Revenue model
7. Positioning (relative to the competition)
8. Paradigm (a combination of several innovation areas)

Innovation Impact Roadmap

The Innovation Impact Roadmap is a tool to help innovators and entrepreneurs make their something new and better significantly impact the marketplace. The Roadmap is a checklist of the elements that should be considered in the process of creating a plan for a new product, service, or business venture.

To start a journey on the Roadmap, try taking the "super highway" from C4 to U4 ... it's the Critical Success Factor for every business venture and makes for a really good venture mission statement, too!

Innovation Impact Roadmap: IIRoadmap.com