A process for generAting breAkthrough innovAtion
Asking come up with the ideas that will challenge the status quo by asking the right questions.
eXpLore
iMMerse
iDeAte
envision
hypothesiZe
Design
refine
MArket
© stone yamashita partners 2005.
prototyping Make the ideas more real—at any stage in the process—so that they can be experienced, evaluated, improved or reconsidered.
fiLtering challenge assumptions and conclusions to draw out the breakthrough from the banal.
– Explore the world at large and open your mind to new possibilities.
– Immerse yourself in the lives of your customers.
– Ideate about how to challenge the status quo.
– Envision a breakthrough way to improve people’s lives.
– Hypothesize a thoughtful, creative strategy and business model.
– Design the customer experience and supporting business model.
– Refine the design to make it truly breakthrough.
– Market your innovation to realize its full potential.
eXpLore
Shift perspective What box are you in? What mega-trends affect your industry and customers? how do other cultures view your world? Build knowledge Get out of the office—and look around. bring in guest speakers. Document information and ideas consolidate research on pithy data cards. collage current trends. visually map different perspectives. Share information create a haven in which to research and debate. set up a Wiki site. compile data cards to synthesize research. Other methods I like:
iMMerse
Observe customers undertake light ethnographic research. interview customers. Go beyond demographics Describe needs, wants, desires—and core values. Map a day in the life of a customer. Consider the customers’ perspective Ask customers what they believe are your competencies and assets. Ask customers who or what you’re competing against. Structure insight Ask questions with a twist. visually map data and insights.
iDeAte
Inspire Map the future customer journey. revisit prototypes from exploration and immersion. engage in an extreme debate. observe best practice. Ideate brainstorm. Describe what it is and is not sketch. Write a brief narrative. compile magazine clippings, photographs, etc.
envision
Build on ideas What is breakthrough for the customer? What is covetable by the competition? use your Wiki to co-develop your vision of the future. Combine ideas connect ideas across your customer journey map. Describe ideas Write a headline from the future. Write a story. role-play a customer experience. storyboard your story.
Other methods I like:
Other methods I like:
Other methods I like:
hypothesiZe
Map implications A strategic hypothesis map—align all business implications around one statement. A resource map—how all the resources function as a whole. An operations map—how all operations function as a whole. Lead with behavior change Determine behaviors and activities that should stop, start, or continue. Use typical tools with atypical creativity A business plan A project plan A budget
Design
Prototype, prototype, prototype . . . Mock-ups scale models blueprints computer-aided design (cAD) A process map A storyboard A movie A script Alpha tests Communicate, communicate, communicate . . . try “speed dating” in meetings.
refine
Practice rehearse a new way of behaving or a major implementation. Test beta test for debugging and additional features. Run a pilot—and don’t forget to measure the results. Co-develop Apply the open source philosophy beyond the software realm. Wikis are useful for refining points of view.
MArket
Prepare for launch Don’t keep your pre-production prototype a secret. build a concept model that’s more than just a concept. use scenario forecasts to plan for more than one possible outcome. Post-launch: Keep listening to your customer turn a market into a living lab to observe, experiment, and learn from customers using your idea. Listen to your customers via an internal feedback loop. create an ongoing customer advocacy group.
Other methods I like:
Other methods I like:
Other methods I like:
Other methods I like:
INNOVATION LAB
© stone yamashita partners 2005.