Take a Design-led Approach to Innovation Innovation drives growth in organisations and entire economies. Yet innovation is hard, risky and rarely successful. Most innovations and startups fail because of a lack of focus on the front end of the innovation process where customer needs are researched, insights are distilled, solutions are ideated, prototyped and tested and business models are shaped. But innovation doesn’t have to be this way. In Innovator’s Playbook, author and leading Design Thinking expert Nathan Baird shares his 20 years of hands-on experience, tools and methods for developing a winning customer-centric approach to innovation. This book will teach you how to apply the design thinking method to innovation and help you to innovate better with five practical and proven stages: 1. Build the right team for innovation. 2. Better understand your customer through empathy. 3. Distill and refine customer-centric needs and insights. 4. Unleash your team’s creativity to create fresh new ideas to address customer needs. 5. Experiment and validate desirable, feasible and viable solutions. Innovator’s Playbook helps entrepreneurs, corporate teams, startups and leaders across all levels to use design-led methodologies for start-to-finish innovation success.
Simplicity is a hard thing. As the legendary Jony Ive, Apple's former Chief Design Officer, once said, the challenge is "to solve incredibly complex problems and make their resolution appear inevitable and incredibly simple". Today, as technology becomes more complex than we can process, how do we hold on to that precious thread of simplicity? How do we design products and systems that are human-centred? How do we put innovation back in our own hands, even as we drive radical digital transformation? The Simplicity Playbook for Innovators shows the way. It introduces five strategic shifts that will transform the way you look at your business - from customer research to product/service development. In each strategic shift, you will find a wealth of practical tools that have been applied and tested, particularly in legacy companies dealing with complex processes and systems. When we focus on simplicity instead of innovation-for-the-sake-of-innovation, customers love the experience. With this illuminating step-by-step guide, you will rediscover how to focus on what really matters for your business, and learn the methods to create experiences that win customers' hearts
Unlock the transformative power of innovation with “The Innovator’s Playbook,” a comprehensive guide that brings together the essentials of strategic innovation management, leadership, and practical execution. Authored by an experienced innovation leader, this book provides readers with a blueprint to navigate the complexities of modern business challenges through innovative thinking and sustainable practices. “The Innovator’s Playbook” delves into the nuances of creating new market spaces, enhancing organizational agility, and leading transformative changes that can redefine industries. With a strong emphasis on sustainable innovation, the book equips leaders to integrate environmental and social considerations into their strategies, ensuring long-term success and responsibility. Key Features: • Comprehensive Strategies: From the fundamentals of disruptive and incremental innovation to advanced strategies like the Blue Ocean Strategy, the book covers a broad spectrum of methodologies. • Leadership in Innovation: Explore how effective leadership can foster an innovative culture, drive change, and inspire teams to achieve exceptional results. • Sustainability Focus: Learn how to weave sustainability into the fabric of innovation efforts, aligning business practices with global sustainability goals. • Practical Insights: Rich with real-world examples, case studies, and actionable insights, the book serves as an indispensable resource for leaders aiming to excel in innovation. Ideal for executives, managers, and aspiring leaders, “The Innovator’s Playbook” offers the tools and insights needed to lead with innovation at the forefront. Through a blend of strategic guidance and practical advice, this book empowers readers to take charge of their innovation journeys and lead their organizations towards a prosperous and sustainable future. Embark on your path to becoming a transformational leader with “The Innovator’s Playbook” and redefine what’s possible in your industry.
A complete roadmap to a revolution in business excellence founded on innovation Author and successful innovator Nicholas Webb believes we need a revolution in business excellence founded on innovation. In The Innovation Playbook, you will learn why innovations fail, the five rules of customer connectivity, the power of "real open" innovation and customer co-creation, the secret formula for reducing product and market risk, the magic of Future-casting, and so much more. Includes an abundance of anecdotes and examples of successful-and unsuccessful-innovation Shares the 56 ways in which innovations fail Learn the success secrets of "Innovation Superstars" Reduce innovation failure and build speed to market Includes online training a ($150.00 value) that will help you put the theory into practice, The Innovation Playbook will prepare you to get your CIS Certification, as well as to implement a successful innovation culture in corporate life.
Innovation may be the hottest discipline around today, in business circles and beyond. And for good reason. Innovation transforms companies and markets. It is the key to solving vexing social problems. And it makes or breaks professional careers. For all the enthusiasm the topic inspires, however, the practice of innovation remains stubbornly impenetrable. No longer. In this book the author draws on stories from his research and field work with companies like Procter & Gamble to demystify innovation. He presents a simple definition of innovation, breaks down the essential differences between types of innovation, and illuminates innovation's vital role in organizational success and personal growth. This unique hybrid of professional memoir and business guidebook also provides a powerful 28-day program for mastering innovation's key steps: (1) Finding insight, (2) Generating ideas, (3) Building businesses, and (4) Strengthening innovation prowess in workforces and organizations. Using several illustrative case studies and vignettes from a range of companies around the globe, this playbook teaches people how to turn themselves or their companies into true innovation powerhouses.
2020 Book Excellence Award Winner How any leader can deliver business-changing innovation now. Any leader in any size company, no matter the size or sector, feels the pressure to innovate, find new ideas and business models, and create enduring customer value. There is no one formula or set process to find and execute the ideas that achieve these goals; customers set moving targets, shareholders are unforgiving and demanding, and society expects companies to care about much more than the bottom line. The fast and furious forces of change stimulated by technology, demographics, lifestyles, and economic, environmental, political and regulatory impacts -- or any number of these in combination – are easy to see. They are easy to talk about. They are easy to intellectualize. The problem? The answers are hard to execute and require nuanced combinations of leadership, skills, strategy and tactics. On top of that, innovation has moved from an abstraction that will matter at some distant date to a front-and-center deliverable that must show evidence of impact in the space of the calendar quarter. In the stories, tools, techniques and advice inside The Change Maker’s Playbook, leaders will find tangible steps to find and safeguard the plans that will deliver the sustainable business-changing impacts – new customers, new relationships, new sources of value and growth— their businesses need. Separated from the pack of academic and consultant innovation theories, Radin’s approach stems from her own experience sitting in the innovation hot seat at some of the world’s most demanding companies and is bolstered by interviews with 50 corporate executives, founders and startup investors representing media, e-commerce, payments, healthcare, government, professional services, and not-for-profit sectors. The book walks readers through Radin’s adaptive, 9-part framework, engaging them in ready-to-apply techniques. Her work shows leaders how to find the big ideas that will meaningfully address customer needs, take the insight from idea through implementation in a way that delivers in the short and long-term for the organization, and lead effectively through the obstacles that tend to derail or diminish innovation. Three phases – Seeking, Seeding and Scaling – organize the framework within an intuitive, logical and useable format, with concrete actions outlined every step of the way. The answer to the dilemma every business faces today is that innovation is exhilarating, rewarding and even fun when it is approached as a unique challenge, but it can also be polarizing, unpredictable, and scary. Success requires that leaders rethink how they lead innovation. Leaders know they must set aside preconceived notions of what works, and look to those who have already walked in their shoes. This is why The Change Maker’s Playbook was written, and why it will become an ongoing resource for any innovation leader. Table of Contents: Foreword The Change Maker’s Framework (image) Introduction Part I: Seeking Chapter 1: Discovering Real Problems That Matter Chapter 2: Purpose, Passion, Promise and Positioning Chapter 3: The Art Of Being Resourceful Part II: Seeding Chapter 4: Prototype, Test, Learn, Iterate Chapter 5: Business Model Linchpins Chapter 6: The Green Light Moment Part III: Scaling Chapter 7: Launch Chapter 8: Testing and Experimenting Chapter 9: Anticipating and Adapting Epilogue Acknowledgements Bibliography
The Radical Innovation Playbook is a practical guide that helps innovators and entrepreneurs to harness new, extreme ideas despite complex business barriers along the way. Designed to be easy-to-use The Radical Innovation Playbook provides insight, practical solutions and reusable canvasses to help innovation managers, CEOs, Chief Innovators and directors of innovation labs to develop breakthrough ideas. In this playbook you will learn how to: Make vital decisions about how to plan and share your radical ideas Collect and analyse information to influence and convince others Engage with peers and stakeholders about your innovation project Challenge established company norms and business models Discover, explore and secure investment Gain confidence and skills for a successful launch Reach new markets and commercial channels Build a structure within an organisation that enables innovation to grow Inspire and support future generations to make an impact and achieve success Read The Radical Innovation Playbook and discover how to successfully unleash and develop your breakthrough moment. Olga Kokshagina, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia Allen Alexander, University of Exeter, UK
The missing manual on how to apply Lean Startup to build products that customers love The Lean Product Playbook is a practical guide to building products that customers love. Whether you work at a startup or a large, established company, we all know that building great products is hard. Most new products fail. This book helps improve your chances of building successful products through clear, step-by-step guidance and advice. The Lean Startup movement has contributed new and valuable ideas about product development and has generated lots of excitement. However, many companies have yet to successfully adopt Lean thinking. Despite their enthusiasm and familiarity with the high-level concepts, many teams run into challenges trying to adopt Lean because they feel like they lack specific guidance on what exactly they should be doing. If you are interested in Lean Startup principles and want to apply them to develop winning products, this book is for you. This book describes the Lean Product Process: a repeatable, easy-to-follow methodology for iterating your way to product-market fit. It walks you through how to: Determine your target customers Identify underserved customer needs Create a winning product strategy Decide on your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) Design your MVP prototype Test your MVP with customers Iterate rapidly to achieve product-market fit This book was written by entrepreneur and Lean product expert Dan Olsen whose experience spans product management, UX design, coding, analytics, and marketing across a variety of products. As a hands-on consultant, he refined and applied the advice in this book as he helped many companies improve their product process and build great products. His clients include Facebook, Box, Hightail, Epocrates, and Medallia. Entrepreneurs, executives, product managers, designers, developers, marketers, analysts and anyone who is passionate about building great products will find The Lean Product Playbook an indispensable, hands-on resource.
A radical shift in perspective to transform your organization to become more innovative The Design Thinking Playbook is an actionable guide to the future of business. By stepping back and questioning the current mindset, the faults of the status quo stand out in stark relief—and this guide gives you the tools and frameworks you need to kick off a digital transformation. Design Thinking is about approaching things differently with a strong user orientation and fast iterations with multidisciplinary teams to solve wicked problems. It is equally applicable to (re-)design products, services, processes, business models, and ecosystems. It inspires radical innovation as a matter of course, and ignites capabilities beyond mere potential. Unmatched as a source of competitive advantage, Design Thinking is the driving force behind those who will lead industries through transformations and evolutions. This book describes how Design Thinking is applied across a variety of industries, enriched with other proven approaches as well as the necessary tools, and the knowledge to use them effectively. Packed with solutions for common challenges including digital transformation, this practical, highly visual discussion shows you how Design Thinking fits into agile methods within management, innovation, and startups. Explore the digitized future using new design criteria to create real value for the user Foster radical innovation through an inspiring framework for action Gather the right people to build highly-motivated teams Apply Design Thinking, Systems Thinking, Big Data Analytics, and Lean Start-up using new tools and a fresh new perspective Create Minimum Viable Ecosystems (MVEs) for digital processes and services which becomes for example essential in building Blockchain applications Practical frameworks, real-world solutions, and radical innovation wrapped in a whole new outlook give you the power to mindfully lead to new heights. From systems and operations to people, projects, culture, digitalization, and beyond, this invaluable mind shift paves the way for organizations—and individuals—to do great things. When you're ready to give your organization a big step forward, The Design Thinking Playbook is your practical guide to a more innovative future.
Great things don't happen in a vacuum. But creating an environment for creative thinking and innovation can be a daunting challenge. How can you make it happen at your company? The answer may surprise you: gamestorming. This book includes more than 80 games to help you break down barriers, communicate better, and generate new ideas, insights, and strategies. The authors have identified tools and techniques from some of the world's most innovative professionals, whose teams collaborate and make great things happen. This book is the result: a unique collection of games that encourage engagement and creativity while bringing more structure and clarity to the workplace. Find out why -- and how -- with Gamestorming. Overcome conflict and increase engagement with team-oriented games Improve collaboration and communication in cross-disciplinary teams with visual-thinking techniques Improve understanding by role-playing customer and user experiences Generate better ideas and more of them, faster than ever before Shorten meetings and make them more productive Simulate and explore complex systems, interactions, and dynamics Identify a problem's root cause, and find the paths that point toward a solution
