Innovation
Which ideas deserve the next step?
Organizations rarely lack ideas. The challenge lies in deciding which areas require new solutions, which assumptions are particularly critical, and when further investment makes sense.
We support you in focusing on relevant search areas, developing ideas strategically, and building evidence early on. Knowledge from within your organization, customer perspectives, and external expertise are incorporated where they help to better validate assumptions.
For us, innovation is therefore not a competition for the most ideas. It is a learning process in which uncertainty is gradually translated into more robust knowledge.
Discover how initial possibilities become well-founded innovation decisions.
Innovation requires decisions, not just ideas.
Whether it’s search field, evidence or next investment: In a non-binding conversation, we’ll work with you to determine where your innovation project currently stands and what needs to be clarified for the next step.
How search fields become robust innovation options
Innovation requires openness, but not arbitrariness. A good innovation process gives direction to the search and creates targeted learning steps before larger resources are tied up.
Focus search fields
Innovation doesn’t begin with the question: What ideas do we have? It begins with clarifying where new solutions actually become relevant.
Search areas can arise from customer problems, strategic challenges, market changes, or new technological possibilities. They define the scope for innovation without predetermining the solution.
In this way, idea generation focuses on questions that are truly important to the organization.
Developing ideas from relevant knowledge
Within a search field, we selectively bring together the knowledge needed to address the question at hand.
Experience from specialist fields, knowledge of customers and the market, as well as external expertise, can reveal different aspects of a problem and open up new approaches to solutions.
Different perspectives are not an end in themselves. What matters is which knowledge helps to better answer a specific innovation question.
Examine the riskiest assumptions first.
Every innovative idea is based on assumptions: about need and benefit, technical feasibility, economic logic, or other conditions for its success.
We first identify the assumptions on which the most depends and for which there is still little reliable evidence. Then we select tests that will provide new information precisely on these assumptions.
This isn’t simply about testing as early as possible. Learning begins where a false assumption would have the most far-reaching consequences.
Prioritizing critical assumptions with little existing evidence also aligns with established evidence-based innovation approaches.
Translating evidence into decisions
Tests provide data, observations, and feedback. They only become valuable when they lead to action.
Therefore, we jointly consider what the new evidence means for the original assumptions. Will the idea be further developed? Does it need to be modified and retested? Or do the findings suggest allocating resources elsewhere?
Not every idea needs to go through the entire innovation process. Good innovation work also makes it clear early on which approaches don’t require the next step.
Evidence decides what moves forward
A promising idea alone doesn’t justify further investment. What matters are the underlying assumptions, how critical they are, and what reliable data can already be gathered about them.
Therefore, progress in innovation isn’t measured by the number of workshops, interviews, or tests conducted. It’s measured by the reduction in uncertainty and the resulting improvement in decision-making.
Test the riskiest assumptions first
Every idea is based on assumptions. Customers must have a relevant problem. The solution must offer a recognizable benefit. It must be technically feasible and implementable under reasonable conditions.
Not all assumptions are equally critical.
Therefore, we first examine which assumptions are particularly crucial and for which there is currently little reliable evidence. From this, we deduce what should be tested next.
This makes experimentation more targeted. We don’t investigate what is most easily measurable first, but rather what could actually challenge the further development of an idea.
Prototypes answer concrete questions
A prototype is not a finished product built as early as possible.
It makes an idea concrete enough to test a specific assumption. This might involve a sketch, a process design, a clickable prototype, a service scenario, or a technically functional version.
The level of development of a prototype depends on the question it is intended to answer.
This ensures that effort and knowledge remain in a reasonable balance. Only the necessary components are developed to enable the next relevant learning step.
Not activity, but insight shows progress
Many interviews, workshops, or experiments can take place without significantly clarifying an innovation project.
Therefore, what matters is what is better understood afterward: Has a critical assumption been confirmed? Has a previous idea become questionable? What new uncertainties have emerged?
Even a test that contradicts an idea can be valuable. A rejected assumption saves further investment if consequences are drawn from it in a timely manner.
Learning, therefore, does not arise from the experiment alone, but from the combination of observation, evaluation, and subsequent decision-making.
Investments grow with the evidence
The earlier an innovation project is conceived, the greater the uncertainty usually is. Major resource decisions then inevitably have to be based on numerous assumptions.
Therefore, it can be beneficial to increase investments gradually. Initially, a team receives the resources it needs to answer particularly critical questions.
As the robust evidence grows, the next investment can also be larger. If key assumptions prove unfounded, an idea can be modified or abandoned.
Quality gates can structure such decision points. They help prevent projects from continuing simply because significant time and budget have already been invested.
Validation is not yet implementation
A positive test result doesn’t automatically guarantee the successful implementation of an innovation within the organization.
As the innovation matures, other questions arise: Who will assume responsibility? What resources and skills are needed? Which existing processes or decision-making paths support further development, and which hinder it?
These conditions shouldn’t be considered only after a successful pilot project.
A validated idea only becomes a viable option once the organizational conditions for its implementation are clarified.
If this primarily requires changes to roles, responsibilities, or decision-making processes, the question leads to organizational design . If it concerns the design of the subsequent change process, it becomes a change management issue .
A good idea is not yet a business model
An innovation process helps identify which solutions have sufficient evidence for further development. However, this does not yet clarify whether and how a viable business model can emerge from them.
Therefore, the focus shifts during business model design. Customer benefits, service offerings, value creation, and economic logic are developed and tested as a coherent model.
Not every innovation requires a new business model. However, when the goal is to create a new offering, a new service, or a different form of value creation, innovation and business model design are directly intertwined.
When innovation becomes an organizational capability rather than a project
A single innovation project doesn’t necessarily require a comprehensive system. However, when new areas of inquiry are regularly explored, multiple projects are managed in parallel, and resources are repeatedly allocated, the task changes.
Then it’s no longer just about advancing a single innovation , but about making innovation work repeatable within the organization.
A pilot project tests more than one idea
A concrete innovation project can be a useful starting point.
Beyond the idea itself, it allows for observation of which working methods, roles, and decision-making processes function effectively within the organization. What expertise is needed? Where do delays occur? Which tests actually yield valuable insights?
In this way, a pilot project not only provides evidence for an innovation but also offers experience in how innovation efforts can be organized effectively in the future.
An innovation program creates a common framework
When multiple projects are being worked on, each team doesn’t need to reinvent the innovation process.
An innovation program can define how search fields are created, how teams are supported, what tests and decision points are planned, and according to which criteria further resources are allocated.
This creates a common framework without prejudging the results of individual innovation projects.
An innovation management system permanently embeds innovative capacity
If innovation is to be sustainable and not limited to individual projects or programs, the system level becomes relevant.
An innovation management system connects strategic direction, responsibilities, resources, innovation processes, decision-making mechanisms, and the further development of the organization’s own innovative capacity. It thus creates the organizational conditions under which innovation can be pursued repeatedly, systematically, and beyond individual initiatives .
An innovation program can be part of an innovation management system. However, the system goes further: it describes not only the process of specific projects but also how innovation is managed, supported, and further developed overall.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is innovation?
Innovation is more than just a new idea. An idea becomes an innovation project when it is fleshed out, relevant assumptions are tested, and the insights gained are used for further development.
Innovation is therefore a systematic learning process under uncertainty.
What is an innovation process?
An innovation process structures the path from a relevant search field, through solution options and testing, to a decision on further development.
This includes, in particular, critical assumptions, suitable experiments, the evaluation of the evidence obtained, and conscious decisions about further investments.
What is a search field in innovation?
A search field describes an area in which an organization specifically seeks new solutions.
Starting points can include customer problems, strategic challenges, market changes, or technological opportunities.
Search fields provide direction for innovation without predetermining the solution. This ensures that ideas are not generated arbitrarily, but rather for questions that are genuinely relevant to the organization.
Which assumptions should be tested first?
First, assumptions that are particularly important for the success of an idea, but for which there is little reliable evidence, should be examined.
This can concern customer benefits, but also technical feasibility, economic prerequisites, or other success-critical conditions.
Therefore, customer testing is not automatically always the first sensible test.
What does evidence mean in the innovation process?
Evidence is information that helps to better assess a previously formulated assumption.
It can come from tests, observations, customer feedback, data, or other suitable sources. What matters is not simply that information has been collected, but how meaningful it is in relation to the specific assumption.
Why are prototypes important for innovation?
Prototypes make aspects of an idea concrete enough to be tested.
Their purpose is not to showcase a finished product as early as possible. They are intended to provide targeted insights into a relevant assumption.
Therefore, the appropriate form of a prototype can vary greatly depending on the question being addressed.
When should an innovation idea be abandoned?
An idea shouldn’t be pursued simply because time or budget has already been invested.
If key assumptions aren’t supported by solid evidence, or if other options prove significantly more promising, stopping the project might be the right decision.
It’s crucial to document the insights gained so they can be used for future projects.
What is an innovation program?
An innovation program creates a common framework for multiple innovation projects.
Among other things, it can define search fields, resources, support, testing phases, and decision points. This eliminates the need for individual teams to develop their innovation logic from scratch each time.
What is an innovation management system?
An innovation management system is a comprehensive organizational framework for the systematic management of innovation.
It links, for example, strategic direction, responsibilities, resources, processes, and decision-making mechanisms, thereby creating the conditions for repeatable innovation efforts.
What is the difference between an innovation program and an innovation management system?
An innovation program structures specific innovation projects within a common framework.
An innovation management system goes further. It describes how an organization sustainably enables, manages, evaluates, and develops innovation.
Therefore, an innovation program can be part of an innovation management system.
What is the difference between innovation and business model design?
Innovation helps clarify which new approaches are relevant and whether their key assumptions have sufficient evidence for further development.
Business model design takes a more concrete approach and develops the interplay of customer benefits, value creation, and economic logic.