Successful innovation rarely comes from a formulaic approach where the marketing department has a brainstorm, prioritises the outcomes, then they progress through a “gated” process culminating in a launch.

    Usually it comes from three sources:

  1. A sufficiently close relationship with customers that you can see their challenges and opportunities, and are able to assemble your capabilities to assist them to compete successfully.
  2. A deep understanding of the strategic and competitive environment in which your customer lives, and a willingness and ability to change the rules as a result of that understanding.
  3. The culture in your  organisation supports the innovation process automatically, it has become part of the DNA of the organsiation.
  4. These three factors are mutually supportive, but scoring 2/3 is simply not good enough for consistently superior performance.