Is innovation a solo act? – the product of the lone genius. Show how successful entrepreneurs make use of networks to help take their ideas forward.

Question

How might an organization assess a portfolio of possible innovation projects? What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of different approaches?
You have been asked to help implement a stage-gate system within an organization. What factors would you consider in the design and introduction of this approach?

Answer 1

1. Innovation as a Networked Process:
Innovation is not just a solitary act of a lone genius; it involves collaboration and networking to realize the potential of any idea. Successful entrepreneurs recognise this and leverage networks to take their ideas forward. They assemble teams of people with a complementary skillset to collaborate with, share ideas and test them in real world scenarios. They also connect with investors, industry experts and mentors to validate assumptions, gain feedback and gain credibility. Thus, networking and collaboration becomes an integral part of their innovation process, which ultimately leads to success.

2. Assessing an Innovation Portfolio:
To assess an innovation portfolio, an organisation should evaluate each project based on its strategic fit, potential market opportunity, technical feasibility, resource requirements, and risk. Projects that align with the organisations’ strategic priorities, have market potential, require fewer resources and have a lower risk should be prioritised. An organisation may also want to consider conducting a cost-benefit analysis of each project to understand the potential return on investment. Conducting a SWOT analysis can help identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each project, and compare them against each other to make informed decisions.

3. Designing and Introducing a Stage-Gate Approach:
A Stage-Gate approach can help an organisation streamline its innovation process, but introducing it requires consideration of several factors. The organization should identify the goal of the stage-gating process, such as reducing product development time or increasing innovation success rate. They should then select a suitable stage-gate model that fits their innovation process and overall organizational structure, and adapt it for their needs.

To implement the stage-gate process, the organisation should first train its personnel on the process and create a shared understanding of the expectations at each stage. It should then build a cross-functional innovation team comprising people from different departments and expertise. This team would provide inputs and evaluate each stage and gate, which would reduce bias and ensure quality. The organisation should also measure and continually evaluate the success of the innovation process, so as to make improvements as necessary.

In summary, innovation requires collaboration and networking, portfolio assessment requires evaluation and comparison of multiple factors, and stage-gate implementation requires careful selection and training of personnel, cross-functional collaboration, and regular assessment.