... to innovation

Every company has unique innovation challenges. So one firm’s innovation practice is another’s worst nightmare!

One firm – convinced that intensive idea generation would revive its ailing innovation efforts – established formal brainstorming sessions. But in a company already skilled at surfacing ideas, was inept at evaluating them – so ideas languished. Brainstorming only overloaded an already broken innovation process.

Hansen and Birkinshaw (HBR June 2007 The Innovation Value Chain) recommend viewing innovation as a value chain comprising three phases:

• Idea generation
• Ideas conversion
• Ideas diffusion

Any weak link can break your innovation efforts, so recognise the phases and focus on pinpointing and strengthening your deficiencies. Tailor your innovation practices to your needs, and you unleash a stream of profitable products, services and businesses.
Taken from: HBR June 2007: The Innovation Value Chain, Hansen and Birkinshaw

Here at equalta we have taken these and many other cutting edge ideas about innovation and tailor them to our clients needs.

Tracy Savill, Operations Director at the Transport Research Laboratory said;

“our work with you has certainly led to operational improvements. The ideas having been taken back into the organisation, leading to changes in the way we generate ideas/our creativity processes.”