INNOVATION

Innovative solutions have a greater chance of success when they can validate consumer desirability, STRATEGIC ALIGNMENT, TECHNOLOGICAL feasibility, AND commercial viability. Accelerating the path to success requires a venture mindseT THAT balancES intuition and analysis to place smarter bets with incomplete information. decisions should be explored in terms of reversible and irreversible risk, and Failures must be celebrated!

AS A DESIGN AND INNOVATION STRATEGIST, I lead cross-functional teams through the innovation process: discovering human-centered needs, declaring strategic choices, ideating novel concepts, prioritizing the most critical assumptions, conducting rapid experiments, and ultimately launching a portfolio of disruptive solutions to maximize market value and strategic value. 

desirability

Complex problems are at the center of great solutions and humans are at the center of many complex problems. Observing, measuring, and empathizing with what people say, do, and feel is critical to excavating latent needs. I believe people hire products and services to get functional, emotional, and social jobs done at critical moments along their journey.

Is your solution a must have? Does it have a strong potential to delight and resonate with users? Does it re-imagine how a need is fulfilled? Does it have potential to reshape the landscape?

INFLUENCES: design thinking, experience design, value proposition canvas, jobs-to-be-done

ALIGNMENT

Companies need to explore core, adjacent, and unknown innovation horizons, but not at the expense of strategic alignment. One of the most common and avoidable reasons why innovation breaks down is a lack of alignment with a company’s winning aspirations and its choices on where to play and how to win.

Does your solution align with the company’s strategic choices? Does it leverage existing assets and/or capabilities? Will it drive business to the core?

INFLUENCES: strategy cascade, innovation horizons, blue ocean strategy

FEASIBILITY

FEASIBILITY IS CRITICAL, ESPECIALLY FURTHER ALONG THE INNOVATION CYCLE. TEAMS MUST BE WILLING TO CULTIVATE POTENTIALLY VIABLE IDEAS, EVEN IF OPERATIONAL OR TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES EXIST TODAY. THEY MUST ALSO AVOID REVERSE ENGINEERING DESIRABILITY. PROTOTYPING AND RUNNING EXPERIMENTS ARE GREAT WAYS TO VALIDATE FEASIBILITY AND DESIRABILITY SIMULTANEOUSLY.

Do you believe a clear path to implementation exists? Is there potential for scalability with investment?

INFLUENCES: rapid prototyping, experiemnt loop, lean analytics

VIABILITY

the most successful innovative solutions are able to scale new ways of capturing and exchanging value. Factoring imminent disruptions, market sizing, investment activity, business model design, go-to-market tactics, and key performance indicators are all imperative to long term sustainable growth. Much easier said than done!

Will this solution create market and strategic value for the company? Does it have the potential to serve a significant market? Does it have the potential to become a meaningful business?

INFLUENCES: lean startup, business model design, business model canvas, business plan