As far as prioritization, perhaps it was unclear in the original post that these questions aren’t used as a checklist per se, but rather are intended to spark further discussion around three main things:

1) What do we need to do in order to meet our business objectives? How big is the “gap” we are seeking to address?

2) Are we adequately prepared (leadership, culture, process, resources, capability) to do this?

3) Tactically, what will we do to get there?

Nest steps are highly BU dependent from that point on, but could generically follow (but it’s not necessarily linear!) :
* Goal Setting
* Sponsorship & Management Alignment
* Individual Roles
* Resource Allocation
* Idea Management Process
* Funding & Approval Process
* Measure & Manage
&
* Continually Support Culture!

Hope that clarifies things a bit.

Best,
Jeff Murphy

I have also developed a so called “Innovation Capability Assessment” as part of my PhD in Industrial Engineering. This tool was developed over a three year period, consolidating a significant amount of research on innovation best practice.

Basically, the tool takes a high-level and generic view on a company’s innovation capability and evaluates how mature the company is in 42 key areas of innovation. These 42 areas are interrelated in many ways – this is captured in the framework of the model – which allows us to show various views and different levels of aggregation in our results and aids in prioritizing of improvement projects.

We have utilized it now in 7 different companies – ranging from the biggest insurance provider in South Africa to a small industrial design company.

We have commercialised the assessment now and have a mini-assessment (shortened version at: http://www.indutech.co.za/products/ica/online-mini-ica). This is however only a teazer! I would gladly email info if your were interested in more detail.

Is there a url for J&J’s tool? I am extremely interested to see the 75 areas addressed!

Thanks again!

Heinz

Ron

Clearly J&J is a leader in innovation, setting a standard for the rest. I’m really interested in how employees can be successful in an environment that is NOT so cutting edge. For an example, a technology scout or other employee who is trying to be innovative in a culture that lacks such support to color outside the lines.

Does anyone have ideas/resources on this?

Kristy

I will sent Jeff a note with your comment. Perhaps he can share his thoughts with regards ot prioritization.

Jim, thanks for the link.

Stefan

Rather than my trying to tell you about their innovation culture, why not hear it from them directly. At our company’s global user conference last year, Johnson & Johnson shared some of their insights about building a sustainable innovation culture.

You can see some of their comments here:

http://bit.ly/ezHdl

I think the more we can provide positive stories about organizations that have found a way to make innovation work successfully, the more others may be willing to give it a go.