0% found this document useful (0 votes)
284 views57 pages

RevelX Corporate Innovation Playbook 2021

The playbook provides guidance for corporate innovators on overcoming challenges. It introduces corporate innovation and why it is difficult, exploring the need to innovate to remain relevant to customers, build resilience during difficult times, and fend off disruptors. The playbook covers 4 key innovation methods and the challenges of ideation, validation, and scaling innovations. It includes free innovation frameworks and tools to help innovators succeed.

Uploaded by

gab
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
0% found this document useful (0 votes)
284 views57 pages

RevelX Corporate Innovation Playbook 2021

The playbook provides guidance for corporate innovators on overcoming challenges. It introduces corporate innovation and why it is difficult, exploring the need to innovate to remain relevant to customers, build resilience during difficult times, and fend off disruptors. The playbook covers 4 key innovation methods and the challenges of ideation, validation, and scaling innovations. It includes free innovation frameworks and tools to help innovators succeed.

Uploaded by

gab
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 57

CORPORATE

INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

A REVELX PUBLICATION

CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK
Demystifying corporate innovation and its challenges.
The methods, tools, canvases and definitions any
corporate innovator needs to succeed.

Version 1.2

RevelX 2021 all rights reserved


CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

1. INTRODUCTION

2. CORPORATE INNOVATION AND WHY IT’S HARD

3. THE 4 FUNDAMENTAL INNOVATION METHODS

4. THE IDEATION CHALLENGE

CONTENTS
5. THE VALIDATION CHALLENGE

PS: Click on any chapter to jump directly there


6. THE SCALE-UP CHALLENGE

7. SO, NOW WHAT?

8. FURTHER ASSISTANCE

9. BONUS: FREE INNOVATION CANVASES

10. BONUS: THE INNOVATOR’S DIGITAL TOOLKIT


CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

01 INTRODUCTION
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

HELLO! WE ARE REVELX


Discovering and exploiting opportunities for growth. That is our playing field. We
excel at disruptive creativity, rigorous analysis and disciplined execution. We
add strategic thinking and execution power to your team. That is how we realize
growth for corporates (or any established business).

We are a team of growth entrepreneurs. A collection of curious minds and


diverse personalities. Based in Amsterdam, we are proud to serve our clients
around the globe with a team of highly skilled and passionate professionals.

We are proud to partner with our clients.


CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

Corporate innovation is hard. Especially given the


WHY amount of uncertainty we face today. We created
this playbook to help you succeed as a corporate

WE MADE THIS
innovator. By providing you with a set of proven
methods, frameworks and tools you can deploy
within your organization today. Let’s grow!

We will introduce you to corporate innovation

WHAT and why it’s hard, explore the 4 key corporate


innovation methods and dive into the 3 main

WE WILL COVER
corporate innovation challenges and how to
overcome them. As a bonus, we have 2 free
resources lined up for you.

The playbook is structured around several key


HOW corporate innovation challenges. You don’t have
to read it from start to end, as you can jump

YOU CAN READ IT straight to those topics which have your interest.
But hey, if you wish to cover everything, you’re
more than welcome to read it like a book.

Keep your eye open for updates of this playbook on our website: www.revelx.co
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

02
CORPORATE
INNOVATION AND
WHY IT’S HARD
WHAT DO WE MEAN
CORPORATE
INNOVATION

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT


PLAYBOOK

CORPORATE
INNOVATION?

CORPORATE INNOVATION:
The process & activities to transform
ideas and hypotheses into solutions that
add value from customer, business and societal perspective
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

WHY SHOULD YOU INNOVATE


IN THE FIRST PLACE?
In many organizations, the need for innovation is not so apparent. The mantra of ‘we have done it this way
for the past decades, why change?’ is still heard in many organizations. The opportunity presented by
adopting a corporate innovation mindset is lost on them. We urge organizations to have an innovation
strategy which lays out what innovation means for them and how it is crucial for long term survival.
Research suggests that companies who do well at innovation generate 3 times more revenue growth.

There are three main reasons why innovation is important:

1. Relevance for 2. Building business 3. Fend off industry


customers resilience disruptors

Customer needs are changing all the We are living in challenging times. Disruptors are around every corner. You
time. This holds true in a consumer Crises are following each other in rapid might not be aware of them yet. As
context as well as in a business-to- succession. COVID-19 is proving to be businesses mature and markets develop,
business context. Our job is stay the greatest disruptor of our time. We incumbent organizations tend to be
relevant for our customers. This must build resilient business models to focused on extending current offerings
requires a process of constant keep our businesses afloat amid this for current customers. Make it a habit of
adaptation. Continuous innovation is turmoil. Business model innovation is a building your own disruptor frequently
key in that. key competence. to prevent getting caught by an external
one.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

Delivering value at

SCALE
INNOVATION STAGE
PRODUCT
the corporate level PARTNERSHIPS M&A (&D)
through scaling up
INNOVATION

DEVELOP
Development of
identified
opportunities into
INNOVATION LAB VENTURE STUDIO EXTERNAL VC
viable businesses

Ideation and

IDEATE
validation of new
HACKATHONS &
R&D PLATFORMS
opportunities ACCELERATORS

HOW TO
INCORPORATE INTERNAL HYBRID EXTERNAL

INNOVATION SOURCE
INNOVATION:
THE CORPORATE Inside the
corporate
Joint exploration, mix
of internal and
Outside the
corporate

INNOVATION
organization external resources organization

MATRIX
* Adapted from Pedram Mokrian (New Line Ventures and The Stanford School of Engineering)
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

CHARACTERISTICS
HOW TO GOVERN
Cross-functional decisions Focused on value
Board should include A single problem area or goal
OF THE GROWTH members from all key focuses the Growth Board’s
stakeholder groups; anyone activities and decisions

INNOVATION: BOARD affected by the decision

APPOINT A
GROWTH BOARD

GROWTH BOARD Informed by data Tackles the riskiest


Team presentations focus on assumptions
evidence, learnings and Are these even the right
provide context for problems to solve? How
To innovate by applying startup principles, make decisions like VCs do. conversation would we know?
Start with a Growth Board. Key characteristics of a Growth Board:

… cross-functional team focused on delivering business value

… reflects appropriate business owners and (top) management

… has budget and resource mandate HOW THE


DOUBLE-
… uses data to make ‘pivot-or-persevere’ decisions GROWTH BOARD DOWN

… enables and encourages top-down and bottom-up collaboration WORKS


… is not a siloed management team focused on status updates
IDEATE &
PITCH VALIDATE PIVOT OR
GROWTH GROWTH
… does not act like traditional top-down, command-and-control decision BOARD
EXPERIMENTS
BOARD PERSEVERE
makers

… acts like an internal Venture Capitalist

DISCONTINUE
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

HOW TO FUND
INNOVATION: HOW METERED
FUNDING WORKS
METERED INITIATIVE
FUNDING
Traditional funding:

» Teams and projects are funded through an infrequent (usually


annual) budgeting process

» Typically, a central decision-making team makes an allocation for a


set period

METERED FUNDING
Metered funding:
PROCESS
» Works like a startup’s funding process: allocating funding over a
series of rounds
PROJECT PIVOT/ PIVOT/
» Funding is based on goals and milestones INITIATION PERSEVERE PERSEVERE

» In the early stages, funding is learning based, and in the latter


stages, funding is growth based

GROWTH GROWTH GROWTH


BOARD BOARD BOARD
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

INNOVATION IS HARD: RevelX research among over 250 companies from various

INSIGHTS FROM THE Only 25% of companies sizes and industries shows that only 25% of companies are
satisfied with their own innovation performance, although
rate their own
INNOVATION innovation performance
65% of companies are afraid of being disrupted . Only 47% of
companies have a well-defined innovation strategy and

READINESS as ‘good’ roadmap in place.

BENCHMARK
65% yet only 25% and 47%
estimates the disruption risk as 7 or higher Rates their own innovation performance as Indicates they do not have a well-defined
The RevelX Innovation Readiness (on a scale from 1-10) ‘good’ innovation strategy and roadmap in place
Benchmark indicates what it takes to
be a best-in-class innovator

» 7 key innovation areas


» 35 best practices
» 7 drivers for disruption
» 5 performance KPI’s
» 250+ participants (and counting)
Our research has uncovered 7 key
building blocks of best-in-class
innovation performance, and a large
LEARN MORE AND
variety of underlying organizational
PARTICIPATE IN CLICK HERE
aspects driving innovation.
THE BENCHMARK
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

WHY CORPORATE
INNOVATION FAILS
Between 70-90% of innovation projects fail*. But why? Based on our experience and research** we
identified 5 key reasons why innovation fails within the corporate environment:

3. “Not invented here”


1. Innovation theater 2. Strategy disconnect
syndrome

Many organizations play ‘innovation Innovation programs should be part of Siloed organizations suffer from the
theater’: they don’t walk the talk on the overall organizational strategy. ‘not invented here’ syndrome.
true innovation practices. They perform They should be tied into all strategic Successful innovation is based on cross-
innovation activities but don’t make horizons: short, medium and long term. functional collaboration. This requires
them part of their strategy or core Disconnected innovation will not an open attitudes towards other
process of continuous innovation. deliver (long term) value. business units and external
opportunities

4. Low risk appetite &


5. Lack of data culture
failure acceptance

Innovation is often seen as synonymous Smart decision making is a key aspect


with high risk. Industries with low-risk of successful innovation. Too often
appetite and failure acceptance miss out decision making is only based on gut
on the opportunity. Innovation done feel or opinions. Smart decision making
right de-risks the process and learns is based on data and insights. A data
* Beth Altringer, Harvard Business Review research,
https://hbr.org/2013/11/a-new-model-for-innovation-in-big-companies from failure. culture is a prerequisite for value.
** RevelX – Innovation Readiness Benchmark insights, 2020
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

THE 3 MAIN INNOVATION


CHALLENGES
Becoming a best-in-class innovator requires mastering 3 main challenges. We recognize a structured
innovation process that covers these 3 challenges.

1 2 3

The Ideation Challenge The Validation Challenge The Scale-Up Challenge

» Spotting and creating innovation » Assessing the true potential of new » Turning on the right growth engines
opportunities ideas
» Creating the right conditions for
» Balancing the long- and short-term » Avoiding unjustified investments in growth
perspective bad ideas or hobby horses
» Balancing management of core
» Selecting the most promising » Beating the competition on time-to- business and innovations
innovations market
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

THE 4

03 FUNDAMENTAL
INNOVATION
METHODS
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

CHANGE THE HOW


The foundation of this innovation playbook is formed by the principles of 4 core business methodologies that have
created big paradigm shifts in the way modern companies innovate and develop their businesses. We have learned
that by combining the principles of these 4 key methods, innovation processes run faster and lead to better results.

DESIGN LEAN GO-TO-


AGILE
THINKING STARTUP MARKET

Start your innovation Use experiments and Organize (MVS) Develop and execute
process with truly MVSs to test your development in sprint a targeted strategy to
understanding the critical hypotheses. cycles of 2-4 weeks. bring your new value
customer challenge and Measure and learn. Include all key people in propositions to the
design solutions to Pivot your proposition the sprint team. market. From launch,
solve that challenge. as much as is needed Integrate learnings and initial growth to
Uncover ‘problems before scaling up. from each sprint in the scaling up. Find your
worth solving’. development. growth engines.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

Design thinking is all about understanding real customer

Define problems and designing or building prototype solutions to


those problems

Construct a
point of view based on
Empathize customer needs and research Ideate Test
Build a prototype
or MVS, keep it simple, define
hypotheses, iterate and pivot
continuously

Learn about your customers Brainstorm Test ideas


and the problems and creative solutions, Prototype or hypotheses with
challenges they have don’t stop at the obvious, actual customers, experiment,
prioritize fail fast

6 Design Thinking principles:

DESIGN THINKING 1.
2.
It is people centered, focused on user’s experiences, specifically emotional ones.
It is holistic, creates a model that examines complex problems, benefits from system thinking.
3. Find problems worth solving, the ones that inspire and need critical creative thinking.
4. It tolerates failure and is optimistic.
DESIGNING YOUR SOLUTIONS BASED 5. It is contextual talk with customers and other people involved in the context of the problem.
6. Tangibility rules, visual facilitation and storytelling are great ways to make the abstract clear
ON PROFOUND CUSTOMER INSIGHTS
and concrete.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

Lean startup is all about taking your solution as early as


Learn from customer
feedback and possible to market (as a Minimum Viable Solution), collect
pivot if needed customer feedback, learn and improve

Learn Measure

Collect performance data


and customer feedback,
monitor performance

Build Launch

Build a Minimum Viable Solution


(MVS) or Prototype

Launch your MVS 10 Lean Startup principles:


to selected 1. Identify the real problem to solve 6. Keep iterating

LEAN STARTUP customer groups 2.


3.
Fail fast and learn often
Get out of the building!
7.
8.
MVS = awesome, not awful
Test, measure & learn!
4. Fake it before you make it 9. Set hypotheses
5. Start small before you scale up 10. Experiment rigorously
ACCELERATING VALIDATION OF IDEAS
BY LAUNCHING MINIMUM VIABLE
SOLUTIONS AND MEASURING IMPACT In September 2008, Eric Ries first coined the term on his blog, Startup Lessons Learned, in a post called “The lean startup."
CORPORATE 15-minute time-boxed stand-up
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK event for the team to
synchronize activities and create The sum of all the Product
Determining the product a plan for the next 24 hours Backlog items completed
backlog items to be worked during a Sprint and the value
on during the sprint and Scrum is an agile framework for developing, delivering, and
of the increments of all
discusses the initial plans for previous Sprints sustaining products and services through daily
completing those product Daily
scrum communication, flexible work planning and iterative sprints
backlog items

Sprint Product
planning increment

Product Sprint
backlog backlog

SCRUM

Retro Sprint 10 Agile principles:


Team reflects on the previous spective review 6. Promote self-organizing teams.
1. Make satisfying the customer’s need
sprint and discusses what’s
the highest priority throughout the 7. Stimulate face-to-face conversation.
working well, what could be
improved, and how to be more development. 8. Make sure the sponsors, developers,
productive 2. Welcome changing requirements, and users can maintain a constant
even late in development. pace indefinitely.
Team and stakeholders get 3. Deliver improvements frequently: 9. Strive for simplicity — the art of
together and discuss what from months to weeks. maximizing the amount of work not

AGILE has been accomplished


during the sprint and
whether the sprint goal has
4. Make sure the business and
developers must work together daily
done.
10. Make sure teams reflect at regular
throughout the project. intervals to become more effective;
been met
5. Build projects around motivated adjust behavior if needed.
DEVELOP IN SPRINTS THAT DRIVE individuals. Give them the
FAST AND INCREMENTAL DATA- environment and support and trust
DRIVEN IMPROVEMENTS they need to get the job done.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

Performance data collection,


Go-to-market is about the design and execution of a tactical
analysis & monitoring.
Continuous feedback plan that specifies how a you will reach your target
system. Data-driven
customers, deliver the product/service and scale for growth
decision making

Performance Customer
Steering Success

Maximize customer life-time


value through onboarding,
activtation, service and
community building

Go-to-Market Marketing & 7 Go-to-market ingredients:


Plan Sales 1. Markets: What markets do you 5. Price: How much will you charge
Solution launch and growth plan incl: for your products for each
Markets, Customers, Channels, want to pursue?
Offerings, Price, Positioning and 2. Customers: Who are you selling customer group?
Organization (see right) to? Who is your target customer? 6. Positioning: What is your unique
3. Channels: Where do your target value or primary differentiation?
customers buy? Where will you How will you connect to what
Building the brand, targeting matters to your target customers
customers, communicating promote your products?

GO-TO-MARKET 4. Product (or Offering): What and position your brand?


the value proposition,
generating and converting product/service are you selling? 7. Organization: How will you
leads to customers What unique value do you offer organize for the right resources
to each target customer group? (people, competencies, budget)
BRING YOUR VALUE PROPOSITIONS TO to execute your go-to-market
plan?
THE MARKET. FROM LAUNCH &
INITIAL GROWTH TO SCALING UP
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

Design thinking Lean start up Agile Go-to-market

Ideate

Daily
Learn Learn Customer
Measure scrum
Success
Performance Shipeable
Steering increment
Define Prototype

Design Thinking Lean Startup Agile Go-to-Market

Launch Marketing
& Sales
Empathize Test Build Retro Sprint Go-to-
spective review Market Plan

Customer Problem Customer Solution Growth & Scale

BY INTEGRATING THE PRINCIPLES OF


LEADING INNOVATION APPROACHES IN
YOUR INNOVATION PROCESS YOU WILL
IMPROVE ITS EFFECTIVENESS AND TIME TO
MARKET
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

04 THE IDEATION
CHALLENGE
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

THE IDEATION CHALLENGE


The innovation process starts with the identification and assessment of the innovation opportunities.
Structured and high-quality ideation is a challenge for many corporates. We recognize the following
ideation challenges:

§ Spotting and creating innovation opportunities

§ Balancing the long- and short-term perspective

§ Selecting the most promising innovations

The basis for ideation is the organization’s growth strategy*. Where do we want to play? How are we going
to win? The process of ideation should culminate into a balanced innovation portfolio for the business.
This portfolio covers both the short and long term and serves as input for the Growth Board. Ideation
makes use of amongst others design thinking principles and takes the customer as central vantage point.

*
Need help with building your organization’s growth strategy? Let us know! We are experts in crafting actionable
growth strategies. Check out our website (www.revelx.co) for resources, blog posts and customer cases.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

BREAKTHROUGH Business Model Products & Services Customer Interface

How you deliver your products and services

INNOVATIONS OFTEN
How you organize your business What you offer to your customers and interact with customers

Profit Partners Process Function Brand Platform Service Distrubution Customer

COMBINE SEVERAL
Model Engagement

TYPES IN THE 3X3 The way in Connection Operational Distinct Brand Comple- Support and The way Is all about

INNOVATION MATRIX which you


make money
with
partners
that create
processes
that create
competitive
features and
functions of
the products
values that
create
competitive
mentary
products
and services
customer
service that
surrounds
products and
services are
delivered to
experience.
Personal,
relevant and
value advantage that help to advantage that are the product customers predictive.
and value for differentiate and/or are offered next and service Beyond
customers leveraged to the core offering transactions
into other product
domains

Type of innovation 1 2 3 4 5 Rate your innovation on each of the


nine types on a 5-point scale
Profit model 0 No innovation
1 Minor innovation
Business Model Partners
2 Modest innovation
Process 3 Relevant innovation Use the 3x3 Innovation Matrix* to assess the strength of
Function 4 Strong your current innovation and to brainstorm on how to
5 Very strong innovation
Products &
Brand further improve your innovation efforts
Services
Platform Brainstorm on which type of
innovation you can include or
Service improve to further strengthen your
innovation
Customer
Distribution
Interface Current

Customer engagement Aspiration


*Based on Ten Types of Innovation by Larry Keeley
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

INNOVATION
OPPORTUNITY
ASSESSMENT

attractiveness
Innovation Opportunity Assessment 1 2 3 4 5 AVG

Market
There is a substantial market

The market will grow substantially


We can scale across sectors
Competitive
Market
attractiveness
Target customers are well defined 2,9 position

The customer need is evident and defined


Assess the market
Current offerings in the market are insufficient
attractiveness and the
Customers are likely to buy our solution
competitive edge of your
We offer an innovation that is unique in the market
innovation efforts to identify
Our competitive advantage is sustainable
their viability and potential risks
We have access to the target customers Definition of the rating
Competitive 1 Fully disagree
advantage
We have a first mover advantage (time-to-market) 4,1
2 Disagree
There is a good fit with our positioning and core business
3 Agree nor disagree
We are fully confident that we can deliver the solution 4 Agree
5 Fully agree
We can deliver a competitive price / performance ratio
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

3 INNOVATION
Horizon 3
HORIZONS Value
Transformative innovation
Fundamentally new and often
technology related innovations
BALANCING Horizon 2
Always be aware that your innovation ideas & projects Disruptive innovation
SHORT AND Develop emerging business
cover all 3 horizons, not just one or two. Typically, in a
70% (Horizon 1), 20% (Horizon 2) and 10% (Horizon 3)
LONG TERM Horizon 1 The timing aspect of the 3
Sustaining innovation horizons should not be set too
PERSPECTIVES Defend core business stringent. Disruptive events like
distribution. Depending on your current position in the
“Keep the lights on” COVID-19 may throw your
market. horizons off course.
Time

Core business Growth business Future business

Trigger questions:

» Do we have a good understanding of the horizon 2


Horizon 1 Horizon 2 Horizon 3
and 3 innovations that can potentially change our
Sustaining innovation Disruptive innovation Transformative innovation
industry Defend core business Develop emerging business Fundamentally new and technology
“Keep the lights on” related innovations
» Which technology drivers are likely to drive horizon
• Proven technology • Existing technology • New unproven technology
2 and 3 innovation, and do we master these • Known • New • New to industry
technologies? EACH HORIZON • Short time-to-market • Mid time-to-market • Long time-to-market Characteristics
• Direct business impact • Disrupt business • Transform business
» Do we have enough innovation on each of the REQUIRES SPECIFIC • Fast-track process • Validation needed • Complex concepts

horizons? CAPABILITIES • Clear vision • Ideation • Co creation


• Core focus • Design thinking • Open innovation Required
» Are we willing to place some horizon 3 bets? • Market insights • Prototyping • Exploring options capabilities
for
• Goal oriented leadership • Speed to market • Identify emerging opportunities
» What are our competitors and potential new innovation
• Dealing with high uncertainty
entrants doing in each horizon?

The 3 horizons model is a growth strategy framework by McKinsey that you can use to think about the future of your company
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

DEFINING YOUR
INNOVATION
Define and understand your customer Map the customer journey for your
and their future needs persona(s) from start to end

Customer Persona Canvas Customer Journey Canvas

OPPORTUNITY,
CUSTOMER JOURNEY CANVAS Persona: Scenario: Year:

Search Journey Buy Journey Use Journey


All customer journey steps related to awareness, research & consideration All customer journey steps related to configuration, purchase & fulfillment All customer journey steps related to use/experience, service & retention

JOURNEY
STEP

STARTING FROM
GOALS

ACTIONS

THE CUSTOMER
TOUCH POINTS

EMOTIONAL
CURVE

POTENTIAL
OPPORTUNITIES

IDEAS &

Once you have your (short-listed and prioritized) list of


SOLUTIONS

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Need help? Contact us at www.revelx.co

ideas, it is time to define and document your innovation


opportunity: what it is, for whom, how it generates value
and what business model is required to sell and deliver.
Design and validate your value propostion Develop the business model
4 steps to define your innovation opportunity: based on profound customer insights to deliver that value propostion

1. Define and understand your customer (groups). Use Value Propostion Canvas BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS
Business Model Canvas
Sectors Customer groups DMU Personas
Key Partners Key Activities Value Proposition Customer Relations Customer Segments

the Customer Persona Canvas. Develop a persona for Target customer

each distinct type of customer.


Jobs to be done Pains Products and Services

2. Map the customer journey and the entire experience


Key Resources Channels

Gains

for each persona, from start to end.

3. Design your value proposition based on customer Cost Structures Revenue Streams

insights. Use the Value Proposition Canvas.


Value proposition

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Need help? Contact us at www.revelx.co

4. Develop your business model to deliver that value


To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

proposition. Use the Business Model Canvas.


The Business Model Canvas and the Value Proposition Canvas have been developed by Strategyzer and are released under creative commons licenses. Find out more about these tools by visiting www.strategyzer.com.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

CUSTOMER PERSONA CANVAS

UNDERSTANDING Demographics
Describing your Buyer Persona by
giving him or her a name, a job title
Personality
Try to get a deeper understanding of your persona.
Who are we dealing with? Try to find certain traits
Motivation
If you better understand what drives your
Buyer Persona to make decisions, you
Prefered channels
Your Buyer Persona will allow you to examine how each group
within your target audience can be most effectively reached. You

YOUR AUDIENCE
and an age, helps people that will help you dictate the kind of language that may also better understand why this can also carry out A/B testing by varying your design and copy.
understand who you are targeting. is likely to capture your personas attention. person would be interested in your
Remember: when everybody is your product or service.
customer, nobody is your customer.

WITH CUSTOMER
Goals
As Clay Christensen states with his
Interests “jobs to be done”, think of what
your buyer persona is trying to

PERSONAS
Tools that might help you
understand the interests of your achieve and what “job” he or she
persona are Google Analytics would be hiring your product or
Audience and Facebook & Twitter service to do.
Audience Insights.

Pains
Quote Do your customers worry about
helping their department meet
Gathering feedback from your
sales goals? Are they struggling to
prospects or existing customers is
stay competitive? What are typical
very important and can help bring
By defining customer personas, you will better understand your buyer personas to life. Be sure
“trigger-points” for individuals to
start searching for solutions?
to collect quotes anytime you are
your customer and tailor your value proposition and conducting interviews or surveys.

marketing strategy to their needs. Deal maker


Key reason to buy What is a deal-maker for your
customer? Think of delivery speed,
What makes your buyer persona
shipping costs, set-up costs, etc.
decide to buy from you? Is it
because your organization is known
What is a Persona? for world class Customer Service,
does your persona need referrals Deal breaker
from friends, or is your store Similar to deal-makers, try to think
A Persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal conveniently located or website of what could be a deal breaker for
highly ranked in SEO? your Buyer Persona.
customer based on market research and real data about
your existing (or potential) customers.

Why use a Persona? DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE


Personas provide structure and context for your company, making it easier to map out opportunities and
allocate your team’s time and resources. INNOVATION CANVASES
Depending on your business, you could have as few as one or two personas, or as many as 10 or 20.
CLICK HERE
However, when starting out we advise to keep it simple and stick to a low number as a starting point.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

CUSTOMER JOURNEY CANVAS


MAPPING THE
CUSTOMER JOURNEY CANVAS Persona: Scenario: Year:

Search Journey Buy Journey Use Journey


All customer journey steps related to awareness, research & consideration All customer journey steps related to configuration, purchase & fulfillment All customer journey steps related to use/experience, service & retention

CUSTOMER JOURNEY JOURNEY


STEP

FROM START TO END GOALS

ACTIONS

The Customer Journey Canvas enables you to map the entire customer journey
from start to finish using three distinct sub-journeys: the search/orientation
TOUCH POINTS

journey, the buy journey and the use/experience journey.


EMOTIONAL
CURVE

Using the Customer Journey Canvas POTENTIAL


OPPORTUNITIES

§ Try to really put yourself in the shoes of one of your (potential) customers.
IDEAS &
What do they experience? When? What do they feel, hope and do? SOLUTIONS

§ The first journey step will typically be the moment when your prospect first Need help? Contact us at www.revelx.co
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

hears about you and the first action that he/she then takes. The last journey
step will typically be about service and loyalty/advocacy.

§ In the ‘Emotional Curve’ segment on the canvas, for each of the journey steps
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE
indicate whether your customer would likely be content/happy in that step,
neutral/indifferent or sad/frustrated. Now draw a line between all these
INNOVATION CANVASES
points to uncover the emotional curve.

§ Use the ‘Potential Opportunities’ and ‘Ideas & Solutions’ segments on the CLICK HERE
canvas to harvest ideas to mitigate any bottlenecks or sub-optimal steps in
the customer journey.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

DESIGNING THE RIGHT


VALUE PROPOSITION CANVAS
Sectors Customer groups DMU Personas

VALUE PROPOSITION Target customer


How do we define our customer target group and which personas do we differentiate?

FOR YOUR TARGET Jobs to be done

§ What does the customer


Pains Products and Services

CUSTOMER need to accomplish? § What are typical problems or challenges


the customer encounters when trying to
§ What is the context within accomplish the job to be done? Which products and services
this must be done? do we offer to the customers
that enable them to:
§ What are subjective
emotional success criteria § Get the Job done
Value proposition design leads to the definition of how to create that define a good
Gains
§ Minimize the typical pains
experience? they encounter
value for your customer and with what products and services. It
§ What can the customer gain directly or § Maximize the gains they
starts by identifying your customers, their ‘jobs to be done’ and the indirectly from executing the Job to be hope to achieve
Done perfectly?
pains and gains that must be addressed for them.

§ What is our actual value that we promise and deliver to the customer?
Using the Value Proposition Canvas Value proposition § What are the measurable benefits the customer will get from that?

» Make sure you have a good understanding of the customers you


aim to target

» Think beyond the direct ‘jobs to be done’ – often this is defined at


a higher level (e.g., providing a comfortable climate instead of
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE
installing an air conditioner)

» Use the pains and gains to design unique products and services INNOVATION CANVASES
creating value for your customer

» Think in terms of value that you deliver and not just activities CLICK HERE
that you execute or products your deliver
The Value Proposition Canvas has been developed by Strategyzer and is released under a creative commons license. Find out more about these tools by visiting www.strategyzer.com.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS


BUSINESS MODEL CANVAS

DESIGNING A VIABLE Key partners


Key Partners Key activities
Key Activities Value proposition
Value Proposition Customer relations
Customer Relations Customer segments
Customer Segments

BUSINESS MODEL FOR


§ Who are our key § What key activities do § What value do we § What type of relationship § For whom are we
partners? our value propositions deliver do our customers expect? creating value?
§ Who are our key require? to the customer? § How are they integrated § Who are our most
suppliers? § Our distribution § Which one of our with the rest of the important customers?

YOUR SOLUTION § Which key resources do


we acquire from
partners?
channels?
§ Customer Relationships?
§ Revenue streams?
customer’s
problems are we
helping to solve?
§ Which customers
business model
§ How costly are they?
§ What are the customer
arche types?
§ Who is the DMU
§ Which key activities do § Which personas can be
partners perform? needs are we
Key resources
Key Resources Channels
Channels identified?
satisfying?

§ What key resources are § What product / service § Through which channels
The Business Model Canvas helps you to define what business model is needed required to develop and bundles are we offering do our customer
maintain our to each segment? segments want to be
to sell, deliver and monetize your solution. - value propositions reached?
- distribution channels § How are our customer
- customer relations Also see the Value channels integrated? Also see the
Proposition Canvas Customer Persona
§ Which works best canvas
and/or is most cost
Using the Business Model Canvas efficient?

» Start with identifying the customers that you want to create value for Cost structure
Cost Structures Revenue streams
Revenue Streams

§ What are the most important costs inherent in our business model? § For what value are our customers willing to pay?
» Use personas to better understand their needs and behavior
§ Which key resources are most expensive? § What is our pricing strategy / tactics?
§ Which key activities are most expensive? § How much does each revenue stream contribute to overall revenues?
» Design a value proposition that addresses the ‘Jobs to be done’ (JTBD), pains
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Need help? Contact us at www.revelx.co
and gains of your customer To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

» Tailor the channels and relations to the specific needs and behavior of each
persona you want to target

» Apply as many of the 3x3 innovation types as you can when defining your DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE
business model; innovation is also about how you structure your business,
your partner network and the unique resources and assets you have INNOVATION CANVASES
» Make a careful make-or-buy assessment when defining the left side of the
CLICK HERE
business model canvas; partnering can reduce risks and time to market

The Business Model Canvas has been developed by Strategyzer and is released under a creative commons license. Find out more about these tools by visiting www.strategyzer.com.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

05 THE VALIDATION
CHALLENGE
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

THE VALIDATION CHALLENGE


When customer, value proposition and business model have been identified, it is time to realize that these
are all ‘just’ hypotheses. They need to be tested in real life and pivoted until your first customers start
buying and your value proposition becomes main steam.

We recognize the following validation challenges:

§ Assessing the true potential of new ideas

§ Avoiding unjustified investments in bad ideas or hobby horses

§ Beating the competition on time-to-market

The main objective in the validation phase is to find data points to support or invalidate your own
assumptions. If in this stage, you allow gut feel to take over, you risk spending a lot of money on the wrong
initiatives. This makes innovation a risky and potentially expensive endeavor.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

SUCCESSFUL Problem-solution fit Solution-Market fit Business Model fit

INNOVATION IS ALL Do we have a problem


worth solving?
Have we built something
that people want?
Have we found the
right growth engines?

ABOUT FINDING THE test test test

RIGHT ‘FIT’ Have I identified relevant


customer jobs, pains and gains I
can address with my value
Do customers react positively
to my value proposition and
does it get traction in the
Can I build a business model
around this proposition that is
scalable and profitable?
proposition? market?

In this phase of the innovation process, 3 types of fit need to be established.


Too many companies start their scaling process before these 3 types of fit
have been established, leading to the high cost and risk of scaling before they
ALL THREE TESTS HAVE TO BE POSITIVE!
have a solution worth to scale.

Your key job is to assess the value proposition’s fit with the observed needs
of the customer UX
When you have identified a customer segment, with a specific set of needs
Feature set
which can be addressed with your innovation, and you have been able to sell
your product to a significant number of these clients, and they are using it to Value proposition
their satisfaction … You may have found product market fit!
PRODUCT-MARKET FIT

Underserved needs
The degree to which your product (or service) satisfies a strong market
demand. Note: There is a distinct difference between product-market fit and Target customer

problem-solution fit. Interpreting a customer’s desire for a solution as a


desire for your product produces false positives for product-market fit
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

MINIMUM VIABLE
SOLUTION (MVS) TO
ASSESS PRODUCT-
MARKET FIT *
A low-quality Expensive solution that
Building an MVS is a great way for assessing product-market fit. Via solution that requires too much time
marketing and selling a minimum viable solution you will be able to
nobody wants … Minimum Viable and money …

determine whether you have reached product market fit or not.

What is the goal of an MVS?


MVS
The goal of an MVS is to gather data on customer response to your product
or service quickly. An MVS allows us to test the hypotheses we developed A bare bones version of a product or service that allows
to gather data quickly and with little effort
around our offering.

How do I measure success?

One metric for product/market fit is if at least 40% percent of surveyed


customers indicate that they would be ’very disappointed’ if they no longer
*
Contrary to other innovation thinkers, we prefer to use the term Minimum Viable
have access to your product or service. Alternatively, it could be measured by Solution over Minimum Viable Product. We would like to stimulate innovators to
think in terms of solutions rather than products and it applies to intangibles
having at least 40% of surveyed customers considering the product or
(services) in the same way as tangibles
service as ‘must have’.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

HOW TO BUILD “Fast prototyping” is an approach for communicating ideas or

AN MVS? WHAT?
work done in projects in order to get feedback quickly from
experiments or relevant stakeholders before detailing the

FAST PROTOTYPING
solution. Prototypes should be made early and frequently
during the innovation process.

There are various ways to market a MVS without having to Obtain an overview of the realistic possibilities before diving into the details.
You will achieve:
build the whole solution
WHY? »
»
Faster and more accurate feedback, more often
A more focused discussion of the solution with colleagues and users
» Improved and more possibilities for stakeholders to give you feedback
» Higher speed of learning by making more and simpler prototypes

The following steps can be repeated several times during the innovation
process:
» Identify where your uncertainty is and define key questions that the

HOW? prototype must answer: E.g., does the design look good? Does it have the
right functionality?
» Identify relevant people to evaluate the model (potential users,
experienced colleagues, people from the supply chain and marketing etc.)
» Select an appropriate type of prototype
» Produce the prototype (or have someone else do it for you)
» Get feedback/experiment and adjust accordingly (pivot)
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

DEFINING
YOUR RISKIEST
ASSUMPTIONS
Many innovations fail because their underlying assumptions
turn out to be false. The Riskiest Assumption Table allows
you to test ideas and validate whether your solution will
solve your customers’ problems, whether it’s a big enough
problem to solve, and whether it’s a viable business model.

This spin on the MVS approach has helped companies such as


Airbnb, Zappos, and Buffer validate their ideas before
building their solutions – and their efforts proved to be quite
successful.

So, what are you waiting for? Define and test your riskiest
assumptions.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

15 MEANS FOR
HYPOTHESES
VALIDATION
Do: Market research reports, Do: develop an explainer video if Do: Deliver a digital service in
social media comments, online you have a complex proposition. physical form before building an
Desk research Explainer video Concierge
conversations, Google trends, Add the video to a landing page automated version of the
etc. or a mailing. proposition.

Do: Observe (potential) Do: Run a comprehension test Do: Similar to the concierge
Customer customers for your product or Comprehension with customers in a 5 to 10 service but this time the
Wizard of Oz
observation service in context without test second exposure test and have customer is offered the
offering them a solution (yet). the customer summarize. proposition in a digital format.

Do: Get out of the building and Do: Have potential customers Do: Present the customer with
Customer talk to customers. Use to explore Pre-sales letter of sign a letter of intent (or even multiple versions of the product
A/B testing
interviews customer needs or test solution intent have them pay) for the product each with a call to action
ideas. or service up front. attached to gauge interest.

Do: Create a simple landing page Do: Develop digital wireframes Do: Work with customers to co-
to present your product and or software mockups to gather create products. Select early
Landing pages Digital prototype Co-creation
service and direct to Call to customer feedback. Be sure to adopters with deep under-
Action to gauge interest. integrate tracking methods. standing of the job to be done.

Do: Run a test advertizing Do: Create a prototype of your Do: Have users complete tasks
Test advertizing campaign with various value product for the customer to connected to the value
Physical prototype Usability testing
campaign propositions in various channels interact with. Also test whether proposition while the product
and test the results. the product can be produced. team watches.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

USER INTERVIEWS ‘User interviews’ are used to gain in-depth understanding and
empathy for future users or customers. Interviews should be
ARE IMPORTANT WHAT? conducted in the everyday context of the users to make the
understanding more real. The term ‘user’ covers everyone in

BUT DIFFICULT touch with the product during the consumption chain, e.g.,
retailers, buyers of the product and end users.

TO GET RIGHT
In-context interviews develop a deep and rich view into the
Direct user feedback through interviews is one of the most important ways to

WHY?
behaviors, thoughts and lives of users and are the best way of
collect data and validate your hypotheses/assumptions.
uncovering functional, emotional and social needs. The aim is to
generate a foundation of new insights of what is necessary.
likes improvements FEEDBACK
CAPTURE
questions ideas GRID

» Identify and select users to be interviewed. Include the target group of the
product but consider all users throughout the consumption chain.
» Prepare an interview guide by brainstorming themes and key questions for the

HOW?
What is the user What is the user user. Explore the values, desires, frustrations and aspirations of the user.
saying? thinking?
Consider using visual stimuli, e.g., showing competing products.
What is the user » Preferably, interview in pairs and take notes during the interview. The
What is the user doing?
feeling? USER interview should be like a conversation allowing for improvisation
INTERVIEW » Fill out the template for user interviews and observation knowledge capture
Functional, emotional Topics to explore TEMPLATE (one template per user)
and social needs? further?
» Share key conclusions and insights with your team in a feedback capture grid
Wat surprised me? Ideas?
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

USE THE MOM TEST


TO NAIL YOUR
USER INTERVIEWS

User interviews are extremely difficult to get right. Key insights from ‘The
Mom Test’ help you find the right perspective, overcome psychological bias
and improve the quality of your interviews.

Key take-aways:

» Talk about customers’ lives instead of your idea.


It’s a common misconception to start a conversation with “Oh, you know, I have such a cool idea
for my startup! It’s like the new Uber for Instagram. What do you think about it?”
Instead, ask people about their habits, life in general, and what they do day-by-day.

» Ask about some specifics from the past instead of generics or opinions about the future. If you
ask someone “How often do you go to the gym?”, then it’s more likely that people will respond by
hyperbolizing, giving higher numbers. It’s fine, everyone wants to appear better than they are,
but a better chance to find out the truth comes with the question “How many times did you go to
the gym last week?”.

» Talk less and listen more.


Don’t just talk about your amazing idea or product but try to listen very carefully and ask a bunch
of questions. Design is about questions. Ask many of them.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

USE VALIDATION A ‘pivot’ changes one dimension of your idea in order to

INSIGHTS TO WHAT?
discover new insights. This is often confused with the idea of
iteration or a new product. A pivot is a structured change/
course correction designed to test a fundamentally new
PIVOT hypothesis about your product or growth strategy.

Based on customer feedback, you may need to ‘pivot’ your


original innovation idea. Looking at the pivot through a scientific approach of experimentation
and discovery, we can find two main reasons to consider pivoting.
Frequently performed pivots:
WHY? » You have new information that invalidates your previous
fundamental assumptions
» Customer-Pivot: Your product may prove popular but not with the user
» You have new information that validates fundamental new
segment that you had initially targeted. Therefore, your product
assumptions.
positioning may need to change, and the value proposition, pricing, and

channels would all need to be reviewed.


Timing can be a tricky balance, with risks associated to both premature pivots
» Channel-Pivot: Here you change how and where you sell your products and delayed ones.

and services (in stores, online, through partners, in-app). Channel pivots » The premature pivot is often the result of decisions made based on too
few data points. Perhaps an idea didn’t gather enthusiasm after initial
WHEN?
therefore often require adjustments to many elements of the business
pitching, or a few people you admire shut it down. This mistake can be
model.
proactively countered by setting clear goals and deliverables, talking to
» Problem-Pivot: When you find out the problem you are trying to solve more people & the right people (potential customers/users) and getting
out of the door (and into the marketplace).
is not getting traction, You may need to point your existing product at a
» The delayed pivot, in contrast, means an opportunity lost. Perhaps a
different customer "job", or you may need a completely new product.
competitor beat you to it, or your stakeholders and resources have worn
» Technology-Pivot: This pivot is when a new technology can be used to too thin to assure a proper runway. Either way, you’re at risk of draining
achieve the same outcome. This can be beneficial if the new solution your team, losing external interest and maintaining the status quo.

has lower cost and/or better performance.


CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

06 THE SCALE-UP
CHALLENGE
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

THE SCALE-UP CHALLENGE


Once you have established all three fits, you know you have an innovation with real and significant market
potential. Now is the time to start scaling and invest in generating large volumes of business: scaling up.
We recognize the following corporate scale-up challenges:

§ Creating the right conditions for growth

§ Balancing management of core business and innovations

§ Turning on the right growth engines

Many organizations struggle in this phase. They either put off scaling for too long or they scale too soon.
Depending on which scenario you follow, you may miss the boat or crash prematurely. Scaling an
innovation requires careful consideration. “Don’t try to scale it until you nail it.” is a popular saying. Yet it
holds many truths. Especially in a corporate setting, too much focus on generating (early) revenues and
realizing return on investment is a major factor in premature scaling.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

6 PITFALLS TO AVOID
WHEN SCALING-UP
Pitfall Solution
Hand-over to business Decide early (ideation) on if and how hand-over takes place. You want that to be very scripted. You
1 Innovation managers run into trouble getting people to take ownership of innovations as they
become reality within the organization — particularly if those innovations disrupt the status quo or
want to know how and when that hand over happens, how you’ll release it from the innovation side
to the operation side. Involve future business owner's early stage.
bring big changes to how work gets done.

Misalignment with strategy Create an innovation profile that outlines goals, context and principles. Translate business goals
2 If your innovation initiatives aren’t aligned with business strategy, they fail to generate the value
your organization needs.
into innovation projects to ensure a greater chance of gaining sponsorship, stamina and funding.
The Growth Strategy Canvas is a great tool for this.

Risk aversion and internal politics


3 Fear of failure and missing the mark on quarterly goals can discourage creative and innovative
thinking and premature killings.
Ensure that KPIs and incentives recognize that innovation is value-adding. Implement a culture that
embraces failure as learning opportunities and encourages whitespace time.

Process gaps Avoid gaps between ideation, validation and scaling by embracing an innovation culture. Clear
4 Ambiguities about ownership and roles can lead to gaps that stagnate innovation. Leadership needs
to take upon its role.
communication and shared responsibilities allow you to eliminate the common “drop-off points” in
the innovation pipeline.

Lack of customer centricity Ensure you have positively tested for all 3 validation tests: problem-solution fit, product-market fit
5 No matter how innovative a solution is, it will be dead on arrival if it lacks a compelling value
proposition and feels to meet customers’ needs.
and business model fit. Involve customers early and often in the development process and beyond.
Use metrics to gauge traction.

Ineffective metrics Ensure that your metrics address 3 key areas: inputs and types of innovations going into the funnel,
6 Inaccurate or ineffective metrics lead organizations astray and cause them to focus on the wrong
objectives
the flow rate through the funnel and the revenue and other quantifiable returns on investment at a
later stage of the funnel.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

GROWTH Growth ambition


• An inspiring statement of your growth
ambitions, split into a longer term BHAG (Big
Transformation
• The transformation your business must
make.
Growth goals
The main goals by which you measure the
realization of your growth strategy
Growth engines
• The priorities in your growth strategy to realize the growth ambitions
• Can be new markets, new propositions, acquisitions

STRATEGY Hairy Audacious Goal) and a mid term ambition


Tips
• Be bold and brave when defining the BHAG
• This describes the current state and the
future state you aim
Tips
Tips
• Define your goals SMART
Tips
• Link growth engines to
- market opportunities

CANVAS
• Make sure that your 3 to 5-year ambition is • Define an inspirational ambition • Avoid the hockey stick - key strengths
specific and preferably also includes a • Use this as communication tool to • Also include non-financial goals • Define the underlying value proposition and business model
quantitative measure describe the impact of the growth • Validate growth engines with market data and customer feedback
strategy

Growth Opportunities Growth enablers


The Growth Strategy Canvas is a A summary of the external context and the growth • The internal improvements that are needed to realize
opportunities that this presents: your growth strategy
helpful guide in preventing - Which disruptive forces need to be countered • Think of competences, systems, processes, etc.
- What are the future needs of your customers (also
misalignment with strategy. It driven by disruption) Tips
- Who will be your future competitors and will this • Involve key operational people in defining your growth
provides the organizational change the competitive landscape strategy
- Where do you expect the largest growth potential • Spent sufficient time on defining the enablers as they
context and guidance for can be make or break
innovation. Most importantly, it
makes the connection between Growth Readiness Growth execution
• Make sure your organization is ready for growth and Per growth engine and growth enabler you define
innovation and the growth goals that all preconditions are in place strategic actions/projects that need to be executed
• Helps to identify the growth enablers that need to be Tips
of an organization. included in your strategic action plan • Define the strategic projects in more detail by the
Tips project leads
• Check this upfront to make sure you identify • Think about how you will monitor and manage the
potential restrictions execution of the strategic roadmap

DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE

INNOVATION CANVASES

CLICK HERE
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

VALIDATE, PIVOT Problem-Solution fit Solution-Market fit Business Model fit

AND SCALE UP OR Do we have a problem


worth solving?
Have we built something
people want?
Have we found the right
growth engines?

DIVEST? ONCE AGAIN, ARE


ALL THREE TESTS
? ? ?
POSITIVE BEFORE
The last phase of the innovation process pertains YOU SCALE UP?
to generating business value at scale. An
innovation now enters the monetization phase. Scale up Divest

Again, this phase shouldn’t be entered if there are Be weary of


prematurely scaling
no clear signs of problem-solution fit (are we your ideas!

addressing the right problems?), product-market fit


(have we built something the market wants or
needs?) and business model fit (can we produce at
scale in a viable way?). Scale up market Scale up organization Growth roadmap
From early adopters to Organize a growth team. Find Where can the business be
Pursuing an innovation in this stage without proper mainstream customers. new people. Leverage other’s scaled best? Add new
sign off on the three tests puts your money and SCALING Extend channels. Branding. assets. How should features and services. Extend
Add geographical areas governance be arranged? the offering
company reputation at risk. So, proceed with REQUIRES A
caution and construct a sound growth plan.
SOUND Enter production mode Scale up investment Establishing growth metrics
Bring your MVS from Lab to Move from frugal / affordable What (activity & impact)
GROWTH PLAN Fab. Process design. Partner loss spending into growth metrics do we apply to the
and leverage resources. Make investment. Leverage as much business and what should be
it scalable as possible their values?
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

DATA
DRIVEN COMMON COGNITIVE BIASES

DECISION MAKING Ambiguity


The tendency to avoid options
for which missing information
makes the probability seem
Optimism
The tendency to be over
optimistic. Also known as wishful
thinking or planning fallacy.
unknown.

Making objective decisions about


The tendency to rely too heavily The tendency to notice
innovation in a corporate setting on one piece of information. something more when someone
Anchoring Often rooted in company myths
Selection or something causes us to be
requires data and a data driven
and beliefs. more aware of it.
mindset.

Decision making in an organization is The tendency to believe things The disutility of giving up an
Sunk cost/loss
often fraught with cognitive biases Group think because many other people do or object is greater than the utility
believe the same way. aversion associated with acquiring it.
which are counter productive in many
cases and outright dangerous in
The tendency to search for and
others. The tendency to reject new
interpret information and data in
Confirmation the way that confirms one’s
Semmelweis reflex evidence that contradicts a set
When making decisions about paradigm.
preconceptions.
innovation make sure you recognize
the common cognitive biases and Drawing different conclusions
from the same information
address them in your organization. Framing depending on how or by whom
the information is presented.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

SCALE UP
ACCOUNTING:
FROM ACTIVITY TO
IMPACT METRICS Activity metrics Impact metrics

» Number of growth tactics tested » Cohort analysis


» Number of experiments run » Pirate metrics
When scaling up an innovation one moves from (acquisition, activation, retention, revenue, referral)
» Number of customers engaged
Reporting » Growth engines (lifetime value, retention rates)
activity metrics which are focused on progress of » Number of channels tested
» Revenues and profits
» Number of usability tests run
delivery towards impact metrics. Impact metrics are a
» Validation velocity
set of leading and lagging indicators which are based
» Stage gate criteria
on an innovation’s business viability. » Number of products in the pipeline
» Average growth rates
» Number of reviews submitted
» Growth hypotheses validated
Governance » Number of decisions made
» Return on investment
» Number of products moving sub-stages
(ARR, IRR, NPV)
THE IMPORTANCE OF METRICS » Average amount spent per sub-stage
» Process improvement metrics
Metrics are key in presenting measurable results to
» New products by type of innovation » Innovation contribution
leadership. Being transparent on what innovations (core, adjacent, transformational) » Cost savings
deliver drives trust and autonomy. Furthermore, » % of products aligned to innovation thesis » Innovation conversion
Global » Number of patent filings » Market share (new segments, shelf space, share of wallet,
being aware of the right metrics prevents innovations » Number of products built using lean distribution footprint)
» Partnerships and collaborations » Customer satisfaction
to be evaluated in the wrong way.
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

07 SO, NOW WHAT?


CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

LEARN MORE AND


INNOVATION PARTICIPATE IN THE
READINESS Gain valuable insights into how to increase your innovation power.
Our Innovation Readiness Benchmark will help you to assess your innovation strengths BENCHMARK
BENCHMARK and weaknesses and to improve your innovation performance.
CLICK HERE

BECOME A BEST-IN-CLASS INNOVATOR

To become a best-in-class innovator you first need to understand


your current innovation power and the key improvement areas.
This is the first step in order to stay relevant to your customers, stay
ahead of your competitors and defend yourself against disruptive
forces. How? Through the Innovation Readiness Benchmark.

INCREASE YOUR INNOVATION POWER

§ Measure the innovation power of your organization against 35 innovation


best practices.
§ Gain insight in new forces that can potentially disrupt your industry.
§ Compare your organization with the high performers in our benchmark.
§ Understand which areas can drive innovation performance.
§ Receive a personal report including customized recommendations
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

08 FURTHER
ASSISTANCE
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

REQUIRE
FURTHER
ASSISTANCE?
You’re more than welcome to contact us for a
FREE 30 minutes Innovation Consult.

[email protected] [email protected]
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

09
BONUS: FREE
INNOVATION
CANVASES
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

FREE
INNOVATION
CANVASES

DOWNLOAD YOUR
FREE INNOVATION
CANVASES

CLICK HERE

AND MORE…
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

10
BONUS: THE
INNOVATOR’S
DIGITAL TOOLKIT
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

THE INNOVATOR’S
DIGITAL TOOLKIT Analysis Ideation & Validation
» Analysis on small datasets: Google Sheets, MS Excel / MS Access » Brainstorming: MindMeister, Draw.io
» Analysis on large datasets: SPSS, RapidMiner, RStudio, Jupyter » Idea / ideation management: Ideanote, Viima, BrightIdea, Evulu
» Business Intelligence tools: Tableau, PowerBI, Qlik, Looker » Crowsourced ideation: HYPE, Yambla, Taikai, Gleam
» Surveys: Typeform, SurveyMonkey, Google Forms, Survio » User feedback / panels: UsabilityHub, Usertesting, Testbirds,
» Web/App analytics: Google Analytics, Amplitude, Segment, Heap, Validately (UserZoom)
Mixpanel » Whiteboard to tekst scanner: Office Lens, Google Keep,
» Dashboarding: Databox, Geckoboard, Google Data Studio » Other: Airtable

CLICK ON THE » Text / natural language analysis: MonkeyLearn, Keatext

LINKS TO VISIT
Communication, design & interaction Idea and project management
THE TOOL’S » Chat based communication: MS Teams, Skype, Slack, Mattermost » PM tools: Asana, Monday, Wrike, Trello, Flow, Basecamp,
» Prototyping: InVision, Figma, Proto.io, Sketch, Framer, Marvel Teamwork
WEBSITE » Collaborative whiteboards: Miro » Portfolio management: Planview, Primavera, Clarity, Celoxis,
Bizztracker, PowerPPM
» Interactive presentations: MentiMeter, Klaxoon, Sli.do
» Gantt & roadmaps: SmartSheet, TeamGantt, Aha!, Airfocus
» Graphic design: Canva, Stencil, PicMonkey, DesignBold
» Personal to do management: Todoist, Any.do, OmniFocus
» Icons: The Noun Project, Flaticon, Icons8
» Note taking/management: Notion, EverNote, OneNote, Confluence
CORPORATE
INNOVATION
PLAYBOOK

You might also like