BQF Innovation

Innovation Tools has published its annual list of lessons learned. It has contributions from innovative thinkers from all round the world. It contains a wealth of useful advice and comments. You can find it here:

Lessons from 2006

Here are a couple of examples:

Process and attitude are critical to the success of innovation

It definitely needs more than just creativity to make innovation work. You need to have a stage-gate process which guides the idea on a concept level and than into a solution. Without honest top-level commitment you may forget about any innovation initiative right from the start. In the end it is all about mindset and attitude. You may have the right process and great ideas - but without an idea-rewarding mindset and attitude no chance will be made. On an individual level you need to have courage to challenge the existing and your assumptions and the willingness to change for the different.

– David Jeggle, Avenue Innovation Development

Clear the path for innovation to happen

Innovation is not about what you put in place, it’s about what you get out of the way.

– Fred Mandell, HotHouse Innovation

Philips is moving from a high-volume electronics manufacturere to a design-led, lifestyle technology company. It needs help to get there so it set up a ’simplicity board’. Philips reckoned it needed a fresh perspective from creative types with no ties to the company. So it formed the simplicity board, a group of specialists in health care, fashion, design, and architecture. “Philips was too inward-looking,” says Andrea Ragnetti, Chief Marketing Offier. “To really embed simplicity into the company’s DNA, we needed an element of vision.”

You can read the details in this Businessweek article.

Often we are so close to our own products that it is difficult for us to see clearly. An outsider can bring a simpler, fresher view. How can you harness the creative input of outisders to improve your innovation?

For Philips, the promise of simplicity isn’t just about making products that are easier to use. The bigger challenge is rewiring the entire organization. The board’s primary contribution, says British fashion designer and board member, Sarah Berman, is “using creative chaos to affect lasting change.”

We are holding a meeting of the BQF Innovation Unit on January 17th 2007 in London. It will address the issues surrounding employee suggestions schemes. It is a joint meeting with Ideas UK.

Agenda and booking.

I will chair the meeting and we have guest speakers from British Gas and Lloyds TSB so it should be a great opportunity to learn how to get the most from employee ideas.

If there are some special questions that you want adressed then please let me know.

Paul Sloane