Patricia Seybold conducted a case study concerning “The Anatomy of Innovation”. One of the main results is a kind of checklist for innovations within large organizations:

• Hire an outside renegade.
• Have him build and sell his vision.
• Let him create his own team.
• Locate the team off-site.
• Take a blank slate approach.
• Create a blueprint with an integrated cross-functional team.
• Have the team implement the technology, the content, the user interface design, the business plan, and the marketing plan in parallel.
• Leverage your corporate technology group by agreeing on design standards up front and having them conduct architectural reviews throughout.
• Engage customers as hands-on advisors throughout the process.
• Design your information architecture around customers’ activities towards their goals.
• Build in instrumentation that lets you measure what matters to your customers as well as your sponsors.
• Beta test with friendly customers and invite them to invite their friends.
• Promote via the Internet and social media.
• Make it easy for customers to tell you what role(s) they are playing.
• Let customers see what activities they’ve performed, so they can pick up where they left off; profit from your ability to track what activities customers in different roles are doing.

Pretty useful imho, especially because of the open and cross functional approach as well as the integration of the customers. Because on the long run you innovate to win or retain customers.

Posted by maz on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 14:58.