The document discusses ways to optimize innovation efforts by reducing costs, risks, and increasing the probability of success. It identifies six key areas to focus on: strategic, technical, commercial, financial, operational, and execution. Within each area, it provides one to three specific strategies to optimize innovation efforts, such as developing contingency plans to reduce risks (strategic), conducting experiments to increase learning (technical), and performing market experiments to understand customer needs (commercial). The overall goal is to manage innovation efforts across these six interconnected areas in order to create and capture value from new products and services.

1. OPTIMIZING
YOUR
Innovation
EFFORTS
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
1
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

2. STRATEGIC INNOVATION
“...creation of growth strategies,
new product categories, services or
business models
that change the market
and generate significant new value
for consumers, customers and
the organisation.”
Saswati www.innovationandimprovement.com and Palmer and Kaplan www.innovation-point.com.
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
2
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

3. INNOVATION IS:
Costly (Money and Resources)
Risky (Low Success Rate)
and therefore
Subject to Cancellation
but also
Critical to Long-term Growth
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
3
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

4. How can you
OPTIMIZE
your efforts in order to:
Reduce Costs
Reduce Surprises
and
Increase the Probabilities of Success
???
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
4
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

5. “Sometimes the situation is only a problem
because it is looked at in a certain way.
Looked at in another way, the right course of
action may be so obvious that the problem
no longer exists.”
Edward de Bono, physician, author, inventor and consultant
5

6. 17 WAYS
TO OPTIMIZE YOUR
INNOVATION EFFORTS
Based ON:
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
6
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

7. 6 AREAS
Strategic
Technical
Commercial
Operational
Financial
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
Execution(al)
7
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

8. INTERRELATIONS & ITERATIONS
StrategY
(PLANNING)
Technical
Commercial
Financial
Operational
EXECUTION
(TactIcs)
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
8
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

9. Create Value
STRATEGIC
Capture Value
1) Portfolio of Projects
Hedge against the risk of failure of any one project by
carrying out a number of projects from incremental to
radical product, service and business model innovations.
2) Business Plans
A written plan focuses the team on the approach and aids in
the identification of potential issues.
3) Contingency Plans
Develop these for each critical component: key parts,
personnel, customers, licenses, alliances, government
approvals etc.
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
9
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

10. Probability of Success
TECHNICAL
Intellectual Property
1) Experiment
Design and execute many, small-scale experiments: alternate
approaches, prototyping, testing materials and models to
increase the number ideas and learning.
2) Enlist Experts
Internal and external experts can provide constructive
criticism and provide an early warning.
3) Monitor Industry Trends
Review articles, news feeds, scientific journals, and patent
filings to provide insights.
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
10
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

11. Competitive Environment
COMMERCIAL
Market Potential
1) Marketing Experiments
Finding the optimal ways to reach the true customers with
the right product at the right price is an iterative process,
best achieved through many experiments, tests and research.
2) Market Intelligence
Keeping abreast of the trends and shifts in the target
markets as well as related markets allows you to preempt
surprises.
3) Competitive Intelligence
Monitoring the activities of direct and indirect competitors
similarly allows you to preempt surprises.
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
11
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

12. Financial Requirements & Returns
FINANCIAL
Operating Plans
1) Budget Preparation and Tracking
Project budgets, cash flow models and resource utilization
schedules in addition to tracking progress against them will
go a long way to minimizing fiscal creep.
2) Sales Forecasting
Models built on a list of assumptions permit the testing and
refinement of these models so that more accurate Return
On Investment estimates can be estimated.
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
12
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

13. Founders/ Management
OPERATIONAL
Product Pipeline
1) Project Plans
Detailed plans help keep teams on track and ensure critical
tasks don’t fall through the cracks.
2) Stage-Gates
These high level reviews provide opportunities to redesign,
accelerate or even cancel projects (failing fast).
3) Collaborations and Outsourcing
Third parties (including consultants!) frequently can perform
tasks more effectively or efficiently freeing up valuable time.
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
13
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

14. Productivity
EXECUTION
Progress
(TACTICS)
1) Project Management
Based on the previously described plans, active project
managing ensures projects advance in a timely manner and
issues are identified and resolved quickly.
2) Team Building
Cohesive teams improve decision-making quality and provide
the motivation to get through the tough challenges.
3) Preparation for Pivot
From time to time, an opportunity arises or is encountered
that requires a radical shift in the project focus, that can yield
huge rewards.
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
14
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

15. 15

16. GOOD
LUCK!
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
16
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved

17. Technology
Science
Idea
Product/ Service Concept
Research & Development
Academia
VALUE CREATION
Commercialization
Business
Implementation
Marketed Product/ Service
Sales & Marketing
INDUSTRY
VALUE CAPTURE
DuncanJones@
HEXAGON-INNOVATING.COM
www.Hexagon-INNovating.com
17
© Duncan.Jones 2013, All rights reserved