7 key learnings about the ins & outs of the ‘innovation’ industry

The innovation industry, where companies develop their new future products and services. As a manager of innovation acceleration, I’m responsible for connecting new partners to our company, and creating, accelerating and improving innovation. Together, we think about how to create a path from point A, the current situation, to point B, the future state through new product or service values.

How do executive leaders try to improve innovation and bring structure in their roadmaps? Let’s dive into 7 key learnings I gathered over the years.

1. Iterations are demanding, but failing means learning
2. Don’t expect to estimate budget correctly early-on
3. Remember where & why your idea originated
4. User centricity isn’t new, but it’s still a struggle
5. Avoid meaningless design buzz words
6. The ‘minimum viable product’ isn’t an all-purpose solution
7. A working prototype means you’re only half-way done

1. Iterations are demanding, but failing means learning

One of the basic principles of innovation is: Failing equals learning. This principle is already well-known, but it’s not always easy to implement. When working on an innovation project, the best way to tackle this is to be aware that the chances of “first-time-right” are very low. If you assume you’ll tackle the development without any iteration, your product is probably not innovative and you won’t gain many new insights. Failing is a way to create new unique selling points, use cases and technology applications. This really allows you to become an expert in learning methods and culture, and believe me it’s also really fun to have something that works out fine in the market as well!

2. Don’t expect to estimate budget correctly early-on

A lot of parties want to calculate the exact price of their innovation project early-on. Out of experience, I know this is just not possible because you can’t predict the future. Other than that, it’s very hard to define all the specifications and requirements upfront. These unknowns influence the size and type of tasks and risks necessary to create a new valuable product or service. Another factor is that there are different ways to meet the requirements, resulting in quite different innovation and development approaches. If you want to control your budget as much as possible, try to specify the scope and include an ‘innovation buffer’.

3. Remember where & how your idea originated

Everyone has a different starting point when innovating. Some detect a new market space, others find a new user need or explore how to new or existing technology applications. When developing new ideas, it’s very important to understand and remember where your idea originated from. How it emerged, will determine a different context of unknowns. In many cases, you’re biased. Your idea seems fantastic and successful, yet this could become your blindspot and an intrinsic danger for pitfalls. I don’t want to take away your enthusiasm, of course. Try to challenge these assumptions and biases, they’ll lead you to the important questions, and maybe make your solution an even bigger success.