One common framework that outlines “Seven Essentials” for successful business innovation, often applied to business model innovation, includes:
- Inspiring Leadership: Leaders must set growth goals that require innovation and continuously champion the process, including fostering a culture of experimentation and learning.
- Customer-Led: Innovation must start with a deep understanding of stated and unstated customer needs, expectations, desires, and pain points.
- Innovation Culture: Creating an organizational culture that encourages idea flow from all employees, eliminates the fear of failure, and promotes curiosity, openness, and collaborative work.
- Enabling Structures: Having the systems, processes, and structures in place to support the innovation path and continuously review and assess progress.
- Short-listing Ideas for Next Stage: Selecting ideas that clearly link to the organization’s revenue and growth goals, often by balancing incremental and disruptive ideas, as well as low- and high-risk ideas.
- Idea Ownership: Ensuring clear accountability for developing and driving an idea forward through the organization.
- Go to Market: Involving cross-functional teams (e.g., manufacturing, applications, sales, and marketing) throughout the process to ensure successful transfer and adoption of the innovation by the customer.
It’s important to note that different authors and consulting firms may present slightly different lists or frameworks (e.g., focusing on the elements of a strong business model, like Value Proposition, Customer Segments, and Revenue Streams, or the process of innovation, like the 4I-framework of Initiation, Ideation, Integration, and Implementation).
The list above focuses on the organizational and process essentials for successful innovation.