Most companies try to innovate whether or not they have the right supporting structures or a formal innovation function.  Some, who have innovation in their DNA and a strong technology foundation, even make major breakthroughs.  But even they will admit that this happens “in spite of themselves” recognizing their lack of needed skills and supporting processes to make these expected and repeatable.

So, can you really count on random efforts to sustainably generate growth potential?  Or should you?

You can count on our agile approach to innovation management.  It offers twenty years of innovation leadership experience both in building innovation capabilities and commercializing new growth platforms in world-class engineering companies.  We have learned that innovation efforts are often derailed by a lack of critical innovation skills and supporting systems that might otherwise nurture potentially disruptive ideas to maturity.

Attempts to shepherd disruptive innovation projects through conventional processes usually leads to projects getting stalled and eventually ‘killed’.   And when it comes to creating a formal innovation function, it is not uncommon for organizations to be stymied with structural ambiguities. They often have trouble overcoming the barriers of internal politics and of adding the resources needed to make meaningful organizational changes.

But it is possible to overcome these challenges and accelerate innovation efforts without going through major organization changes.  Organizations can start by creating flexible team-based structures that perform the essential roles of an innovation function and that serve as the catalyst for real breakthroughs. These structures are also scalable and can serve as the foundation of the future formal innovation function.

This is how we designed Agile Innovation Systems (AIS).  Think of AIS as a blueprint for execution.  It will enable you to find new growth opportunities, build and commercialize new growth platforms, and generate new growth strategies through Open Innovation.

There are three unique Agile Innovation Systems – Growth, Accel, and Scouting.

‘GROWTH’ – focuses on defining development opportunities within your organization. If you are new to innovation, the Growth system can be used to jump-start your efforts.  If you already have innovation processes in place, your organization can benefit from the system’s articulate and unique framework for focusing and accelerating team efforts.

‘ACCEL’ – is a new-platform building system.  It is based on an iterative ‘market-test’ approach for reducing uncertainty and includes analytical decision-making frameworks for quantifying risk and staging investment.

‘SCOUTING’ – is a strategic system that allows teams of internal technology domain experts to proactively identify disruptive technologies.  It helps you to envision new growth platforms and devise technology acquisition strategies.

Each of these systems is complemented with a range of flexible frameworks that help you to build and manage an effective R&D PORTFOLIO and that are compatible with AIS principles.