Innovation solutions
We specialize in guiding your team to identify, test, and rapidly validate new growth opportunities.
Our approach blends creative and design thinking with robust quantitative analysis, empowering your teams to identify new and memorable ways to solve your customer's complex problems creatively and profitably.
Define your business model, value proposition, and ideal customer criteria
Empower your team to innovate effectively and sustainably
Achieve measureable outcomes through experimentation
Foster a culture of continuous improvement using a growth mindset
What to expect on your innovation journey
Innovate at the speed of business using measurable experimentation amidst today's volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment.
Identify your horizons
Clarify the scope and objectives of your innovation efforts, identifying areas of focus for immediate and long-term growth.
Integrating innovation & culture
Embed innovation practices within your organizational culture, fostering an environment encouraging creativity and continuous learning.
Readiness assessment
Evaluate your organization's capacity for innovation, including resources, skills, and culture, to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
Align with strategy & operations
Ensure innovation initiatives align with business strategies and operational goals, integrating them seamlessly into your organization.
Experiments
Test potential innovations through structured rapid experimentation, gathering insights and refining ideas based on real-world feedback.
Adopting a growth mindset
Foster a mindset embracing learning, experimentation, and adaptation, driving innovation and sustainable growth within your organization.
Impact of our work
How we empower your organization to innovate
1. Define your business model & value proposition
We begin by using Strategyzer's Business Model and Value Proposition Canvas to define your business model and value proposition's essential components and outline how your organization provides value to its customers.
3. Map your strategic innovation spectrum
We map out your strategic innovation spectrum, balancing exploration and exploitation across different types of innovation, ensuring your efforts align with your strategic objectives.
5. Testing innovation through experiments
Your team establishes processes to run structured experiments to test innovations' desirability, feasibility, and viability. We also assess the impact on your organization's people, processes, systems, and technology.
7. Preparing for & creating change
A change readiness assessment evaluates the organization's ability to scale the proposed innovation. Our Lean Change framework focuses on empowering your team to own the change.
2. Understanding customer profiles & jobs to be done
We guide you in evaluating and understanding your customers’ profiles, focusing on their jobs to be done, their pains, and known/unknown gains. These insights help identify opportunities to address unmet needs and create value.
4. Create a portfolio of innovation experiments
We guide your teams in creating a diverse portfolio of innovation experiments spanning the innovation spectrum. This portfolio approach lets you rapidly test and learn from various potential innovations.
6. Scale successful experiments
Identify and scale the experiments that demonstrate potential, aligning them with your business strategy and integrating them into your operations for maximum impact.
8. Embedding continuous learning & improvement
Establish a practice of continuous learning across your organization, embedding mechanisms for feedback, adaptation, and improvement to fuel future innovation.
Industries & communities we've worked with
Oil & Gas
Technology
Banking
First Nation Communities
Mission-driven Organizations
Government
Automotive
Regulated Gambling
Private Equity
Renewable Energies
FAQs
1 / What should I look for when choosing an innovation consulting firm?
When considering hiring an innovation consulting firm, evaluating their expertise and experience in supporting your specific industry is crucial. You should assess their capacity to provide tailored solutions aligned with your business needs and goals. It is also important to evaluate their methodologies. Reputable firms typically use a combination of design and systems thinking methodologies to balance fostering creativity and ensuring effective strategic execution. Moreover, you should scrutinize their past achievements in implementing innovative programs successfully. Look for firms showcasing tangible real-world results supported by comprehensive case studies or compelling client testimonials highlighting their ability to drive meaningful impact and deliver sustainable outcomes.
Here are some key factors to consider:
Expertise and Experience: Assess the firm's proven record in leading successful innovation initiatives across diverse industries. A robust history signals competence in handling complex challenges.
Methodological Fit: Ensure the firm's methodologies resonate with your organizational culture and the specific hurdles you face. Customizable approaches often yield better results than rigid frameworks.
Stakeholder Engagement: Opt for a firm prioritizing comprehensive stakeholder involvement. Effective innovation requires active participation from all organizational levels but must be the CEO's priority. Ideally, the innovation function reports directly to the CEO position. This establishes the priority for innovation efforts and enables them to be woven into the organization's culture, fostering a collaborative environment that embraces a growth mindset from the top of the organization down.
Tools and Resources: Consider the breadth of resources offered, such as workshops, training, ongoing support, development or access to a knowledge library, and what mechanisms will be provided to sustain the innovation capacity internally long-term.
Transparent Communication: Transparency and engagement are crucial. To see the most impact, meaningful and sustainable innovation efforts must be fostered across your organization. Seek a firm that prioritizes and values open communications to keep all parties aligned throughout the change process as your organization adapts a new approach to innovation.
Client Testimonials and References: Insight from past clients can highlight the firm's capacity to navigate and overcome various obstacles, underscoring its effectiveness and adaptability.
Cultural Sensitivity: Seek a firm that values and adjusts to your distinctive corporate culture and can effectively introduce changes that resonate with your team.
2 / How does an innovation consultant integrate with our existing teams?
An effective innovation consultant seamlessly integrates with your teams by acting as a facilitator and enhancer of existing capabilities. They work closely with all levels of staff, from senior management to front-line employees, ensuring the innovation strategies are collaboratively developed and implemented. This approach helps build a cohesive innovation culture and ensures initiatives are well-supported across the organization. The goal for your engagement should be guiding the development of the skills and capacity within your organization.
3 / What is the typical duration of an innovation program implementation?
Detailed Summary of our Innovation Program Implementation Process:
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Initial assessment and strategy alignment
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We start with a comprehensive assessment of your innovation capabilities and strategic goals. This phase includes stakeholder interviews and analysis of existing processes to ensure that the innovation strategy is well-aligned with your organization's long-term objectives.
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Design and Development of Innovation Programs
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We design tailored innovation programs based on the initial assessment and incorporate your needs and goals. This involves developing a detailed program outlining the structure, key activities, expected outcomes, and performance metrics.
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Implementation and Pilot Testing
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With the program design in place, we move to the implementation phase, which includes pilot testing of critical activities and behaviours. Pilot project outcomes allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of the innovation strategies in a controlled environment and make necessary adjustments before we begin an incremental deployment working towards an organization-wide practice.
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Scaling and Integration
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Successful initiatives identified during the pilot phase are scaled and integrated across the organization. This step involves extensive coordination and project management to ensure the innovations can feasibly integrate with existing processes and all relevant teams impacted are entirely prepared and capable of adapting to the new process.
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Monitoring and Continuous Improvement
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Post-implementation, we continuously monitor the innovation programs' performance against established KPIs. Regular reviews and feedback sessions help identify areas for further improvement and ensure that the programs evolve with changing organizational needs and market conditions.
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Ongoing Support and Coaching
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To sustain the momentum and ensure the longevity of the innovation initiatives, we provide ongoing support and coaching to your teams, including further training sessions, workshops, and direct coaching to address emerging challenges and foster a culture of continuous innovation.
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Duration: The duration of an innovation program implementation can vary significantly depending on the scope and complexity of the projects. Typically, the entire process—from initial assessment to full-scale implementation and monitoring—can take anywhere from six months to over a year. The initial phases might be quicker, with evaluations and strategy alignments taking a few weeks to a few months, while the complete integration and scaling of successful initiatives might extend the timeline.
This structured approach ensures that each phase of the innovation program is executed precisely and aligned with your strategic goals, maximizing the impact and sustainability of the innovation efforts.
4 / How do you measure the success of an innovation program?
Success in innovation programs is measured through a blend of quantitative and qualitative metrics. Quantitative KPIs may include the number of innovations implemented, revenue impact, and market share changes. Qualitatively, success might be reflected in improved organizational agility, enhanced employee engagement in innovative activities, and more substantial alignment between innovation projects and strategic business goals. Integrating neuroscience principles, we also assess team dynamics and cognitive diversity changes to ensure the programs foster an optimal environment for creative thinking.
Quantitative Metrics:
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Risk:
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This metric evaluates how much an innovation project has reduced uncertainty around a new idea. It measures risk at three different levels: hypothesis (specific assumptions), business model (the overall viability of the concept), and portfolio (across multiple projects).
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Application: Tracking risk reduction over time helps prioritize resources and adjust strategies to manage potential pitfalls effectively.
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Potential:
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This metric assesses the financial potential of an innovation project, projecting its possible revenue or market impact.
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Application: Helps in making informed decisions about which projects to scale based on their potential return on investment.
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Time:
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Measures the amount of time spent on the innovation project, providing insights into the speed and efficiency of the innovation process.
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Application: Useful for assessing project management effectiveness and optimizing workflows to accelerate innovation.
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Cost:
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Tracks the financial resources expended on developing the innovation, from ideation to market testing.
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Application: Critical for budget management and ensuring innovation efforts remain financially sustainable.
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Qualitative Metrics:
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Organizational Agility:
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Reflects the organization’s ability to adapt quickly to new insights and changes in the market environment.
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Application: Gauged through feedback loops and the speed of implementing strategic pivots.
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Employee Engagement:
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Measures the involvement and motivation of employees in innovation activities, which is crucial for sustaining an innovative culture.
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Application: Assessed through surveys, participation rates in innovation programs, and qualitative feedback from staff.
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Strategic Alignment:
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Evaluate how well innovation projects are aligned with the company’s long-term strategic goals.
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Application: Reviewed through strategic review sessions and alignment checks with top management.
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Team Dynamics and Cognitive Diversity:
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It focuses on team interaction and the diversity of thought, which can enhance creativity and problem-solving capabilities.
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Application: Measured by assessing team composition, collaboration quality, and conflict resolution effectiveness.
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Innovation Success Pillars:
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Portfolio Programs:
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Manages and aligns the company’s portfolio of innovation projects to ensure a balanced mix covering various types of innovation and aligning with strategic objectives.
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Application: Regular portfolio reviews, adjustments based on performance data, and strategic realignment sessions.
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Culture of Innovation:
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Cultivates an organizational culture that supports and encourages continuous innovation, integrating it into daily practices.
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Application: Initiatives like innovation training sessions, recognition programs for innovative efforts, and policies encouraging experimentation.
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Leadership in Innovation:
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Involves the active role of leadership in fostering a robust innovation ecosystem through strategic guidance, resource allocation, and time management.
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Application: Leadership workshops, active participation in innovation projects, and visible support for innovation efforts.
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These metrics and pillars are essential for comprehensively measuring and managing innovation within organizations, ensuring that innovation efforts lead to tangible, impactful outcomes. By tracking quantitative and qualitative aspects, organizations can optimize their innovation processes and foster an environment conducive to sustained innovation. Specific metrics for your innovation program are selected based on your strategic goals, the type of innovation activities you seek to conduct, and the quality and availability of data within your organization.
5 / Can you provide examples of innovation challenges you have addressed in similar industries?
Typical challenges we address include aligning innovation efforts with corporate strategy, enhancing ideation processes, integrating cutting-edge technologies, and cultivating a supportive culture for innovation. Our solutions are tailored to address these challenges effectively, resulting in streamlined processes, enhanced product development, and a more agile response to market changes.
6 / What ongoing support does your firm provide post-implementation of an innovation program?
Post-implementation, we offer ongoing support to ensure the long-term sustainability of your innovation programs. This includes regular strategic reviews, additional coaching sessions, and the facilitation of advanced workshops to tackle new challenges. Our support is designed to help your organization continually adapt to changes and maintain a competitive edge in innovation.