Exploring Frameworks and Methods as an Innovator

Over the past twelve or eighteen months, I was asked to explore and explain different frameworks that the innovator might need to know, or at least have an opinion upon. These were for Hype Innovation and posted on their blogs. Some of these investigations or explanations were fairly long so I decided to not reproduce them here but to have an opening summary and then set up the links onto their site for you to read the ones that are of interest or curiosity to you.

So far I have covered ones that were asked for, there are a few more that need covering or even deepening out in explanations in my mind, let’s see. The first group are recent ones and provide depth.

The first one shown,  you could argue is more introducing the concept of mapping not explaining how to go about it and point to a recognized authority on this. I’m happy to explain this mapping journey some more if needed, although others have contributed on this site! Let me know.

There is a lot of depth to explore in all of these, a valuable real point of reference, with so much more within the Hype site for innovation knowledge and viewpoints.

Why mapping the customer journey is the top driver for digital transformation

“Organizations are struggling to understand the behaviors of the ‘connected’ customer. Partly it seems executives don’t engage with their brand or business in the way that their customers do”.

The difference between DMAIC, DMADV, and Innovation Management (tackling a critical part of Six Sigma)

“Six Sigma aims to take any uncertainties (variability) out of a process while innovation by definition induces uncertainties.  However, Six Sigma and Innovation are both essential for an organization”

Where does Triz fit within our growing organizational practices for Innovation?

“TRIZ is a problem solving method based on logic and data, not intuition, which accelerates the project team’s ability to solve these problems creatively”

Using the FORTH Method to Navigate Your Innovation Journey

“Gijs van Wulfen has created a wonderful innovation method, the Forth Innovation Methodology, to provide a systematic way to take ideas into tested business case concepts”

The Baldrige Framework: In Pursuit of Excellence

“The value is that Baldrige is intentionally non-prescriptive. It does not tell leaders how to manage their organizations”

An introduction to Design Thinking for Innovation Managers

“The key today is to think like a designer in the way you lead, explore, create and innovate”

Some were provided before this over the last year or so, but I feel are worth exploring.

Some  contributions here were actually  around my own framework or my specific focus of innovating work. The integrated framework was constructed in a collaboration with Jeffrey Phillips over at Ovo Innovation and then I added a post for building this integrated framework out from this by taking out specifically, the Business Case Building, as an important need.

Others came up as useful to explore as they delve into different issues we need to tackle when contemplating different frameworks or methods associated with innovation. These represent a smorgasbord of frameworks and methods that I have contributed to the Hype Innovation site.

Valuing an integrated framework:  introducing the Executive Innovation Work Mat

“The strength of the Executive Innovation Work Mat as a framing document to provide this leadership dialogue becomes essential for organizations wanting to gain complete organization engagement”

Building a compelling business case for an integrated innovation framework

“Delivering an integrated framework would be for many, a strategy that is innovative in itself”

Opening up our thinking towards ecosystems has a powerful effect

“We are forming external relationships in many different ways as this increased diversity does matter to each organization for building different competitive positions in their innovation offerings”

Sorting Through the Management Tools and Trends

“We all are caught up in handling and understanding different management tools. The numbers are accelerating, and if anything it’s adding more confusion to the pile we already have”

The critical aspects for an innovation vision

“We can miss some different and crucial components in building the vision, which reflects on many of the intangibles surrounding any view“

Strategic and Innovation Alignment: the Choice Cascading Model

“To achieve alignment, a cascade of better choices is needed that keeps mapping back to innovation activities and strategic need”

Get Out of the Building and Go Cross-Industry to Seek Radical Ideas

“By applying a set of development principles where combining rapid iteration, making constant pivots, becomes central to a business model’s customer discovery and validation”

Applying the Four Lenses of Innovation

“That is why the Four Lenses of Innovation has a real value to you to read, absorb and experiment and then to continually apply to your own innovation thinking needs”

Using the Three Horizons Framework for Innovation

” Thinking in different horizons prompts you to go beyond the usual focus of fixing innovation just in the present. It connects the present with the desired future and identifies the ‘seen’ disruptions which might occur in moving towards a vision”

Shifting our present Measurements and Metrics to Ultimate Outcomes

“Many organizations are struggling with their metrics and ways to measure the progress and success of their business”

Exploring the Intrapreneurial Way in Large Organizations

“Large organizations sense they are missing out on radically different business opportunities and cast their envious eyes towards the young start-ups”

Digital transformation – are you ready to transform and change your innovation approaches?

“So we recognize digital transformation needs to lead somewhere, well it is really most likely to fundamentally alter your (innovation) business model“

Crowdsourcing needs dedicated focus to yield great results

“Will crowdsourcing provide predictable outcomes? No, everything you do to make for a good result still might not eventually deliver on this for all the preparation work you put in”

Evaluating Crowdsourcing – has it a bright future?

“Crowdsourcing does have a sound potential to compliment or simply become your principal source of turning concepts and challenges into solid ideas that do have an impact”

Tackling the Internal Jobs-to-be-done for Improving Innovation

“We need to map the jobs and generate desired outcome statements that are specific and of real interest to the customer, not our list of multiple ideas generated based on where we are or what we think we know”

The need for a modern engagement platform

“Organizations that encourage and set about learning consciously set about the search for new ideas and by having this already established ‘learning’, are far better at recognizing new ideas that might lead to innovation“

Exploring Diffusion and Adoption of New Innovation – Part 3, part 2 and part 1 (this links to part 1)

Over three posts I will look at the aspects of “diffusion and adoption”

Are you opening up the Stage Gates to let the new innovating world in?

“There is no question the Stage-Gate process has had a significant impact on the conception, development and launch of new products. Yet there have been consistent criticisms as the world of innovation has moved on”

Forget Best Practice, It Is All About Next Practice

“The trouble with best practice is you are looking at someone else’s practices and these are highly individual, made up of different groups of methodologies, processes, rules, theories, values and concepts”

Balancing Exploitation & Exploration for Changing Performance

“Being ambidextrous” in organizations is the ability to successfully combine the exploiting of all the investments that have been made to date, to constantly build on these achievements by exploring new areas and opportunities. This calls for dual thinking and organizational design to optimize the two orientations”

The value of exploring frameworks that ‘ inform’ innovation cannot be overstated.

Of course there are numerous others also provided within the Hype Methods & Frameworks, written by other contributing authors giving their own slants to these. These cover Lean, Co-creation, Collaboration, Ecosystems, Open Innovation, Ten Types of Innovation, User-Led Innovation and many others.

Great views, opinions and contributions have been building in a very methodical way

This growing collection is really building into a very useful “go to site” to begin to relate too and refer for anyone involved or interested in innovation. The posts can help you determine if these suggested tools, framework or method work for you and/ or advance your innovation work. All the contributors make some really excellent contributions, providing a great understanding of many of your choices to deploy.

The complete list of all the blog posts is here, certainly worth digging into and going back to refer too.

We all learn when we look back, to then move forward differently with fresh perspectives

For me, each one I have written upon I have constantly been reminded on their value and place within our innovation work. I found I was re-learning some principles that had been buried in the back of my mind and although researching and referencing back on them took some time I thought it was useful, to me and to the innovator who needs to ‘relate’ to these and apply them as and when needed.

So I do encourage you to explore the links and recognize these all have innovating connecting value to bring into your own thinking and referencing of innovation capability building.

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Paul Hobcraft runs Agility Innovation, an advisory business that stimulates sound innovation practice, researches topics that relate to innovation for the future, as well as aligning innovation to organizations core capabilities. Follow @paul4innovating