"Life is like riding a bicycle.  To keep your balance, you must keep moving forward." - Albert Einstein

I wanted to continue on with the innovation portfolio topic this week because it is very important to have a solid base of understanding around these concepts if you are going to successfully implement innovation/idea management systems within your organizations.  This week, we are going to focus our view a little narrower, and examine how one ensures the "right" balance of innovation types within their project/program portfolio.

Notice how I put the word RIGHT in quotations above.  That is because the definition of RIGHT is up to you.  Only you and your organization can determine the correct blend of incremental and breakthrough innovations to achieve the proper mix that equates to business success in your market and based on your culture. 

There are a number of levers that you can pull, in one direction or another, to find that perfect mix:

• Identify and remove corporate influences that kill ideas and discourage creativity/innovation
• This ensures all ideas are being considered...not just the "safe" ones
  
• Design a recognition & reward system for innovation
• This encourages employees to become engaged in finding new ideas, which is the source of all ideas coming into your portfolio
  
• Open up your search for good ideas to the outside (partners, vendors, suppliers, customers, etc.)
• This broadens the spectrum of ideas coming into your funnel
  
• Fund innovation projects separately from the main corporate budget or use a venture capital approach to funding new ideas
• This protects idea funding from "business as usual" market demands on the organization
  
• Consider each and every new idea and categorize them based on filtering criteria that match your organizational goals and mission
• This ensures alignment with where your organization wants to go while showing idea generators that you are serious about reviewing each idea submitted
  
• Review budget allocations across the organization on a regular basis and evaluate the mix of "keep the lights on" vs. "search for new" allocations
• This demonstrates the desire to innovate all the way through the organization...right down to the department level
  
• Invest heavily in rapid prototyping and piloting technologies
• This ensures fast failure/fast success so your innovation investments are maximized
• Allow management of innovation projects to be flexible
• This allows different development and management approaches for different types of ideas...Not every idea needs the full weight of a project/program management system on top of it to be piloted and implemented.
• Continuously scan the competitive environment
• Look at patent filings and product launches of your competitors to see what they are working on...Do you need to adjust your incremental vs. breakthrough mix based on what you see?
• Make sure action follows words
• Engage even the most cynical employee by ensuring you are "walking the talk" through leadership by example and management by walking around

Having an organization that is devoted to the free flow of ideas, and where action upon those ideas results in innovative new products and/or services that then result in increased customer satisfaction and market success is the ultimate goal.  Having a "monitoring system" in place as you grow and develop these attributes is key in measuring your progress and adjusting certain areas of influence to push success even further.  The Innovation Portfolio System is that monitoring system and is an important step in making sure your investment in innovation pays off.

Have a GREAT week and Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in USA!!!