Innovation Metrics podcast

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 21 - Too much Hype, too little Impact: How to Avoid the AI Failures of Others 56:37

10 weeks前56:37

56:37

EP 21 - Too much Hype, too little Impact: How to Avoid the AI Failures of Others About the Episode AI adoption is skyrocketing, but most AI projects don’t deliver on their promises. In this episode, Dr. Evan Shellshear, Managing Director and Group CEO of Ubidy, breaks down why 80% of AI projects fail and what organisations can do to improve their chances of success. Drawing insights from his book Why Data Science Projects Fail , Evan explores the biggest blockers to AI success, the importance of strategic alignment, and how companies can avoid wasting millions on AI initiatives that don’t deliver business impact. Whether you are an AI practitioner, business leader, or innovation manager, this episode will help you separate AI hype from reality and make smarter technology investment decisions. Evan's Books Why Data Science Projects Fail: The Harsh Realities of Implementing AI and Analytics, without the Hype: https://www.amazon.com.au/Why-Data-Science-Projects-Fail/dp/103266133X?ref_=ast_author_dp Innovation Tools: The most successful techniques to innovate cheaply and effectively: https://www.amazon.com.au/Innovation-Tools-Successful-Techniques-Effectively/dp/0646956469?ref_=ast_author_dp Topics and Insights [02:53] – Defining Innovation Evan shares his perspective on what defines innovation, emphasising that it is not just about new ideas but the impact they create. He draws a clear distinction between invention and innovation, explaining why an idea without impact remains an invention rather than a true innovation. [04:27] – Measuring Innovation Effectively Innovation measurement starts with two key questions: Is it new? and What is its impact? Evan highlights the difficulty of measuring “newness” and discusses why impact should be measured based on purpose-driven innovation . He argues that metrics should align with a company’s innovation goals, whether it is patent creation, revenue growth, or industry transformation. [06:11] – The Biggest Blockers to Innovation in Large Organizations Evan contrasts the flexibility of small, nimble companies with the structural challenges of large enterprises. He explains how legacy systems, bureaucratic processes, and internal competition create significant barriers to innovation, making it difficult for new ideas to gain traction and survive within large corporations. [07:31] – Why AI Projects Fail: The 80% Failure Rate Evan breaks down the staggering failure rate of AI projects, estimating that up to 80% fail, with the number exceeding 90% for analytically immature organizations. He highlights the three biggest reasons AI initiatives go wrong : Lack of strategic alignment – Organizations chase AI trends without clear business objectives. Poor data quality and availability – Without the right data, even the best AI models fail. Lack of experienced resources – Many AI teams lack deep expertise, leading to unrealistic expectations and weak execution. [12:50] – The Outback AI Story: When AI Doesn’t Make Business Sense Evan shares a fictitious story from Australia’s Outback, where a farmer was pitched an AI-driven solution for managing crops. While the technology sounded promising but overall, it was a poor investment. This example underscores why businesses should assess AI projects through a commercial viability lens , not just a technical one. [24:01] – Prioritizing AI Investments: The 2x2 Framework Evan introduces a simple framework to help organizations prioritize AI projects: Impact vs. Feasibility – Instead of chasing AI for AI’s sake, businesses should rank projects based on their potential impact and their actual ability to implement them. This portfolio approach helps companies avoid expensive AI failures by focusing on initiatives that align with strategy and available resources. [42:00] – The Education Gap: Why Universities Aren’t Preparing AI Leaders Evan and Elijah discuss a major issue in AI education—universities focus almost exclusively on technical skills , while the real reasons AI projects fail are business-related . He argues that universities must teach: Stakeholder management and project leadership Business strategy and problem framing How to align AI projects with real-world business needs [55:44] – Final Thoughts: Avoiding AI Hype and Building Sustainable Success The conversation wraps up with a reminder that AI projects should be treated like marathon training —organizations need to build capabilities gradually rather than jumping straight into large-scale, high-risk initiatives. About the Guest Dr Evan Shellshear is the Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Ubidy, an innovative global recruitment marketplace leveraging AI to connect employers to specialist agencies. He has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science (single and double majors in mathematics) from The University of Queensland, a Diplom (equivalent of both a BSc and MSc) from the University of Bielefeld (Germany) and a PhD in Mathematical Economics (Game Theory) from the Institute of Mathematical Economics at the University of Bielefeld. Before his appointment at Ubidy, Evan was Chief Analytics Officer and Co-Chief Executive Officer at Biarri – one of Australia’s leading specialist analytics consultancies. Evan has consulted to leading businesses worldwide across industries from manufacturing to retail, from healthcare to supply chain, and from oil and gas to energy. He has published or co-published four books on topics from innovation (Innovation Tools) to artificial intelligence, business analytics, and data science (Why Data Science Projects Fail) and has published almost 100 articles in leading blogs, magazines and news outlets. He has served on multiple advisory boards of state, national and international institutes, has multiple accreditations across numerous digital platforms and is a thought leader in the fields of AI, innovation and strategy. He holds Adjunct academic appointments at the Queensland University of Technology and at The University of Queensland. Contact Evan https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshellshear/…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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Finding Product/Market Fit After Launch: What to Do When You're Already on the Market? 1:02:09

25 weeks前1:02:09

1:02:09

About the Episode In this episode, Elijah Eilert sits down with Étienne Garbugli . Étienne, the CEO of Sliced, veteran founder, and author of several books, shares his insights. The conversation centers around Étienne’s most recent book, Find Your Marke t. The book explores how to effectively find Product/Market Fit when innovations are already built or at least partially developed without having factored in the market need properly. Most innovators understand the need for research and experimentation before committing significant resources to but in reality, many organisations, Research and Development departments, and especially universities all too often do not adhere to it. Topics and Insights [01:00] Question 1: What is Innovation? Étienne kicks off by reframing how we should think about innovation—not just products, but improvements in services, processes, and distribution. He makes a strong case for continuous iteration as the key to staying relevant in today’s hyper-competitive landscape. [02:30] – Question 2: How Should Innovation Be Measured? Étienne discusses different approaches to measuring innovation, from immediate goals (Horizon 1) to long-term, high-uncertainty efforts. He shares his perspective on why understanding progress in increments is key, especially when navigating high-risk innovation projects . [05:00] – Question 3: What is the Biggest Barrier to Innovation? Elijah and Étienne explore a major, yet often overlooked, barrier to innovation—career progression. In organisations, those who get promoted are often seen as people who make the “right” decisions. This clashes with the exploratory and uncertain nature of genuine innovation, which frequently involves taking risks and failing. [12:30] – Finding Your Market A significant portion of the conversation focuses on Étienne’s book, Find Your Market: Discover and Win Your Product’s Best Market Opportunity. He walks listeners through his bottom-up approach to identifying markets—starting from precise, actionable customer segments and expanding outward—contrasted against traditional top-down TAM analysis. Elijah and Étienne jokingly refer to it as “Lean Startup, but backwards,” emphasising how companies with an existing product can work backward to find Product/Market-Fit but in a lean way. [18:00] – Innovation Metrics and Strategy Alignment They discuss how to align innovation metrics with broader business strategy. Measuring learning outcomes and value creation through insights—rather than just focusing on short-term financial gains. Étienne also shares how even seasoned entrepreneurs often realise their understanding of markets evolves significantly over time. [36:30] – Segmenting Effectively with Slice Étienne explains how his company, Sliced helps companies break down broader target audiences into smaller, more actionable segments. This process enables companies to better understand where their true market opportunities lie. [45:06] – Strategic Choices: Internal vs. Acquisition The conversation closes with an insightful exploration of how organisations decide between building innovations internally or acquiring them. Étienne compares these paths, drawing from examples like Atlassian and Google, and offers his thoughts on which makes sense depending on the broader innovation thesis. About the Guest Étienne is the CEO of Sliced , a consulting firm that helps growing tech companies find the best customers for their products. He is also a three-time startup founder (Highlights, Flagback, and HireVoice), a six-time entrepreneur, and a customer research expert. In 2014, Étienne published the first edition of Lean B2B: Build Products Businesses Want . The Lean B2B Methodology has helped thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators worldwide build successful businesses. In 2020 he published Find Your Market , The SaaS Email Marketing Playbook , and Solving Product . His presentation 26 Time Management Hacks I Wish I’d Known at 20 was viewed by more than 32 million people. For more about Étienne and his work, visit Étienne’s Website .…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 19 - Part 2: The ROI of Learning 48:40

1 year前48:40

48:40

About the Episode Elijah Eilert is talking to Peter LePiane about innovation within large organizations. Part 2 of the podcast explores various aspects of innovation related decision-making. Peter opens up about his background in science and computer science, his Startup journey and how he nearly founded Airbnb and Shopify. He introduces Estimatic, his latest venture, software designed to model uncertain projects and ideas. The episode addresses the concept of innovation accounting, common misconceptions in business case analysis, and the value of information by connecting learning to financial outcomes. The episode challenges traditional practices in organizations and focuses on the importance of understanding human behaviour to achieve success for new products and organisational change management. Throughout this episode, the duo explores a myriad of topics central to innovation-related decision-making and highlights the value of information, connecting it to financial outcomes. Unravelling the concept of innovation accounting, Peter debunks the common misconceptions prevalent in business case analysis. The episode challenges traditional practices and underscores the pivotal role of comprehending human behaviour in achieving success, whether for new products or the intricacies of change management within organizations. Topics and Insights [01:43] Understanding Human Behavior in Change Management Products succeed or fail based on human behavior, as do organizational changes. Understanding human behavior is therefore crucial. Peter recommends checking out Lean Change Management and gives a shoutout to Jason Little ! [05:23] Peter’s Background Peter’s background as a software engineer. How he transitioned from science to computer science at the University of Waterloo. His journey into the startup world. How Peter launched Airbnb and Shopify (kinda). Peter’s experience working on web development and e-commerce projects. [16:15] Estimatic Peter explains his startup, Estimatic , a Monte Carlo tool for modelling uncertainties. The importance of accurately depicting uncertainty in business models. Critique of the misleading hockey stick growth projections in startup presentations. The need to provide a range with a probability of future outcomes instead of point predictions. [25:51] Challenges in Corporate Innovation Decision-Making Addressing the challenges of making decisions in large corporations. Mentioning the lack of recognition for risk management in decision-making. Highlighting the absence of structures rewarding risk management. [26:53] The Concept of Innovation Accounting Elijah and Peter delve into the concept of innovation accounting and its evolution. Explain how innovation accounting combines the uncertain nature of innovation with concrete numerical measurements. Emphasize the importance of connecting learning to financial outcomes. Discussing the use of Monte Carlo simulations in innovation accounting. Quantifying Learning and Progress (32:43) Discussing the measurement of progress in innovation accounting. Mentioning the value of reducing the range of uncertainty. Emphasizing the value and significance of measuring uncertainty reduction. Discussing the impact of reducing uncertainty on decision-making. Linking uncertainty reduction to financial value and decision-making processes. [39:55] Common Misconceptions in Business Case Analysis Addressing common misconceptions in traditional business case analysis . Critiquing the practice of averaging best and worst-case scenarios . Highlighting the inaccuracy of assuming likely outcomes from extreme cases. [44:14] The Value of Quantification in Decision-Making Emphasizing the importance of quantifying assumptions and outcomes. Discussing the misleading nature of averaging best and worst-case scenarios. Challenging the common practice of this approach in organizations. About the Guests Meet Peter LePiane , the accomplished management consultant with a track record of helping organizations transform how they validate and launch products and services. With a background in start-ups, incubators, venture capital, and professional coaching, Peter has spent the last two and a half decades refining his consulting toolbox serving a diverse range of clients from midsize companies to large, multinational corporations in industries including financial services, insurance, retail, telecommunications, consumer packaged goods, and fragrance manufacturing. Do you need to create the next big breakthrough but don’t know how to discover what your customer wants with certainty? Feel like you need to redesign how your organization thinks and operates but you don’t know where to start? Do you know that culture follows structure but don’t know what part of the structure to change first? Peter is the innovation change maker who can empower you to break through the status quo. Peter’s professional coaching background differentiates and allows him to be the brave champion required in the face of drastic organizational mindshifts. It equips Peter to help both leaders and teams of innovation change shape their habits towards: Generating and investing in ideas that align to the organization’s Innovation Thesis Recognizing and challenging assumptions Outcome-based and disciplined experimentation Designing from a customer and human-centred perspective Acknowledging learning as the most valuable corporate currency Trading the dream of future assumed success for the reality of current customer feedback Peter’s most prominent innovation transformation accomplishments include: Co-created an internal innovation services organization within Canada’s most valuable and respected telecommunications company with annual revenues of $17B. Ingraining assumption-challenging, experimentation, and customer-centric habits into a highly regulated, multinational organization’s culture. Transforming two of Canada’s big five banks to a culture of innovation and agility. Creating leading-edge Lean Innovation and Agile training content delivered across Canada and at Queen’s University School of Business. Transitioning one of Canada’s largest TSX listed insurers and wealth managers with over $36B in assets under administration to agility. Connect with Peter LinkedIn | Email…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 18 - Part 1: The ROI of Learning 43:58

2 years前43:58

43:58

About the Episode Elijah Eilert is talking to Peter LePiane about innovation within large organizations. Part one of the podcast, explores the core principles of innovation, the challenges associated with measuring its impact, and the formidable obstacles faced in corporate landscapes. Starting with the question of “What is Innovation?” Peter offers his perspective, emphasizing the fusion of novelty and impact in the concept of innovation. According to him, innovation involves the introduction of genuinely new ideas or solutions to the world, with a keen focus on how these innovations are received within the market. The episode underscores that innovation is not limited to grandiose endeavours like space exploration; it can manifest subtly yet profoundly in various aspects of a business. Transitioning to the topic of “Measuring Innovation,” the podcast shines a spotlight on this often-overlooked aspect that is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of innovation efforts. Finally, the conversation confronts the significant hurdles that hinder innovation within large organizations. From challenges rooted in organizational design and financial models to the complexities of incentive structures and cultural mindsets, the barriers that can impede progress are dissected. The episode aims to provide practical insights into overcoming these challenges and fostering a culture that actively promotes and sustains innovation. Topics and Insights [02:28] What is Innovation? Peter’s perspective on innovation combines novelty and impact. For him, innovation is about introducing something new and meaningful to the world, with a focus on both the idea itself and its reception in the market. Innovation is a complex concept, often meaning different things to different people. Key element: Newness – something genuinely new or groundbreaking. Example: Even improving efficiency in a manufacturing plant could be considered innovative if it introduces a new approach. Not necessarily about launching rockets or exploring Mars, but introducing something novel to a market. Novelty is essential, but it’s not enough on its own The Importance of Impact Innovation must have a tangible impact or value. People must care about it for it to truly matter. Requires a practical business model or a container to bring it to market effectively. The market should demand it, making it an essential ingredient of innovation. The “Tree Falling in the Forest” Analogy Innovation that goes unnoticed or unappreciated might not truly qualify as innovation. It’s like the philosophical question of whether a tree falling in the forest makes a sound if nobody hears it. [08:28] How Should Innovation be Measured? Interrogating the Notion of Measurement The podcast delves into the intriguing question of how to quantify innovation effectively. The focus is on whether measurement means seeking signs of success and discerning the impact of innovation. Benchmarking Against Initial Expectations The discussion emphasizes that assessing innovation often involves gauging whether it lived up to the expectations initially set for it. Innovation frequently demands substantial investments in terms of time, resources, and capital. These expectations can be both internal, rooted in what the innovator believes the market will desire, and external, influenced by competitors or industry norms. Significance of Understanding Expectations The viewpoint put forth suggests that grasping the initial expectations is pivotal when measuring innovation. These expectations serve as a reference point against which the actual performance of the innovation can be evaluated. Measuring innovation should primarily concentrate on its alignment with these initial anticipations. [30:59] What are the biggest blockers to innovation in large organizations? Organizational Design: A Key Challenge Exploration of how the design of large organizations can pose significant obstacles to innovation. Mention of financial models in sectors like banking and insurance that often require substantial upfront investments in unproven ideas. Emphasis on the necessity of adapting organizational design, including funding models, to foster innovation. Incentive Structures and the Experimenter’s Mindset Introduction of incentive structures as a pivotal component of organizational design influencing innovation. Explanation of the “experimenter’s mindset” as a cultural facet linked to organizational design. Highlighting the significance of distinguishing between facts and assumptions in decision-making. Measuring Innovation Progress Discussion on metrics and tools for tracking innovation progress within large organizations. Emphasis on establishing learning metrics to gauge the effectiveness of innovation efforts. Mention of real-world examples where learning metrics have proven invaluable. Overcoming Resistance to Change Insights into strategies for overcoming resistance to change when reshaping organizational design. Discussion on the role of leadership in driving these changes successfully. Fostering an Innovation-Friendly Culture Exploring the role of culture in supporting innovation within large organizations. Strategies for cultivating a culture that embraces experimentation and learning .…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 17 - Part 2: How to Manage Change and Create Resilient Organizations Through Innovation 55:17

2 years前55:17

55:17

Elijah Eilert is talking to Kumuda Suppayah an Innovation strategist, and business transformation expert in the Oil and Gas sector. The second part of this episode delves into the fascinating world of corporate venturing and organizational adaptability with insights from a research paper that Kumuda co-authored titled, "Enhancing Organizational Adaptability through Corporate Venturing." The paper's primary focus is to understand the culture and processes that enable successful corporate venturing, a critical strategy for organizations looking to thrive in a rapidly changing business landscape. Explore the significance of corporate venturing, distinguish it from strategic entrepreneurship, and unveil the key ingredients for corporate venturing success in this episode. We'll also uncover the secrets to sustaining funding, managing corporate venturing portfolios, and fostering an agile ecosystem. The opinions expressed in this podcast and research are those of the author/guest and are based on her personal research.…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 16 - Part 1: How to Manage Change and Create Resilient Organisations Through Innovation 49:09

2 years前49:09

49:09

Elijah Eilert is talking to Kumuda Suppayah an Innovation strategist, and business transformation expert in the Oil and Gas sector. Part 1 of the episode is designed around three main questions: What is innovation? How should innovation be measured? What are the biggest blockers to innovation in large organisations? This podcast episode explores the broad concept of innovation and its various facets. It begins by defining innovation as a departure from the norm and highlights the importance of tying innovation to specific outcomes. The discussion then delves into different types of innovation, including incremental, sustaining, and disruptive, with real-world examples illustrating their significance. Measuring innovation becomes a key focus, with an emphasis on balancing leadership's need for certainty with employees' concerns about potential consequences. The episode also addresses common challenges in fostering innovation within large organizations, such as miscommunication, misaligned expectations, and resistance to measurement. Overall, it provides valuable insights into the nuances of innovation in organizational settings and offers strategies for overcoming common barriers. Show Notes [02:28] What is Innovation? Kumuda defines innovation as doing something differently from how it is currently done. She shares her approach to explaining innovation to her own children, emphasizing change as a fundamental aspect. She discusses the importance of tying innovation to specific outcomes or goals to facilitate acceptance and adaptation. [04:03] Different Types of Innovation: Elijah and Kumuda explore the idea that innovation can encompass both large and small changes. Kumuda introduces three specific types of innovation: [04:28] Incremental Innovation Something that often involves process improvements. Examples of time-saving changes that enhance performance and employee experience are shared. [05:40] Sustaining Innovation: An effort to maintain market position. Product innovation and its role in adapting to customer needs are discussed. Digital transformation is highlighted as a key component of sustaining innovation, enabling real-time customer interaction and response. [07:11] Disruptive Innovation: Kumuda introduces disruptive innovation as a form of innovation that disrupts traditional business models. The focus is on offering customers new and improved experiences while addressing pain points. The competitive advantages of disruptive innovation, including market expansion, are emphasized [08:28] How Should Innovation be Measured? Follow insights on two contrasting perspectives on measuring innovation: leadership's desire for certainty and employees' concerns about potential repercussions. She emphasizes the importance of implementing measurements that serve the needs of top management while also motivating employees with achievable targets. Kumuda suggests dividing measurement into categories such as input metrics output metrics or leading and lagging indicators. Lagging indicators are described as definitive measures that showcase the results of effort, such as revenue targets. For incremental innovation, examples of lagging indicators include time saved and increased revenue. The discussion briefly touches upon leading indicators for sustaining and disruptive innovation. The challenges in defining leading indicators for disruptive innovation are highlighted. Leading indicators are viewed as essential for employees to feel safe and ensure they are making daily efforts toward achieving future outcomes. [17:19] Balancing Employee Control and Stress: Elijah discusses the stress factor related to innovation teams being measured against outcomes they cannot control. The importance of organizations establishing appropriate measures for innovation teams is recognized. [18:13] Conflict of Expectations: Kumuda shares insights from a study about the conflict of expectations between top management and employees in the context of innovation. The challenge of innovation proposals not immediately committing to revenue targets is discussed. The miscommunication between top management and innovation drivers is explored. The concept of leading indicators as a means to bridge this gap is introduced. [20:02] Exploring Beyond the Comfort Zone: Kumuda hints at a paper she has coauthored, which will be further explored in episode 2 of this podcast, noting that it discusses innovation blockers. One if these blockers is labelled in the paper as ‘Exploring Beyond the Comfort Zone’. [30:59] What are the biggest blockers to innovation in large organizations? Miscommunication and Mismatched Expectations: One significant blocker is the mismatch between top management and innovators. This misalignment can lead to confusion, wasted resources, and burnout among innovators. Bridging this communication gap and creating alignment between management and innovators is essential. Iterative Process vs. Management Expectations: Another challenge arises from the iterative nature of innovation. Innovators often need to pivot, adapt, and experiment to find the right solutions. However, management may be more accustomed to traditional, linear approaches, leading to conflicts in expectations about the innovation process. Creating a culture that accepts pivots and experimentation is crucial for fostering innovation. Innovation Bookkeeping: Innovators need to focus on gathering the right information at the right time and making data-driven decisions. However, many innovators resist the idea of measuring their efforts and progress systematically. Implementing innovation accounting and innovation bookkeeping, which tracks the information gathered, its impact and cost can help create accountability and trust within the organization. Mindset Limitations: Many innovators face mindset limitations related to risk-taking. They may struggle with taking calculated risks and admitting that they don't have all the answers. This risk-averse mindset can hinder innovation efforts, as innovation often involves a high likelihood of failure. Encouraging a culture of experimentation and acknowledging that not every initiative will succeed can help overcome this mindset barrier. Lack of Clarity and Direction: When innovation efforts lack a clear goal or direction, they can become unfocused and lose momentum. Top-down-driven innovation initiatives without a defined outcome can lead to skepticism and a lack of trust in the organization's commitment to innovation. Ensuring that innovation initiatives have clear objectives and tangible outcomes is essential for success. Innovation Theatre: Another challenge is when innovation is driven by hype rather than meaningful outcomes. Activities such as idea hackathons may generate a lot of buzz, but without a structured approach to implementation and measurable results, they can result in disillusionment and a perception that innovation is all talk and no action. Addressing these blockers requires a combination of effective communication, cultural shifts, measurement of innovation efforts, and clear strategic direction. Overcoming these challenges can pave the way for successful innovation in large organizations.…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 15 - Psychological Safety, Cognitive Diversity, Trust & Fear in Innovation 1:35:15

2 years前1:35:15

1:35:15

Title Episode 15 - Psychological Safety, Cognitive Diversity, Trust & Fear in Innovation About the Episode Elijah Eilert is talking to Susie Braam and Ed Essey , two seasoned innovators. The episode takes you on a corporate innovation journey, covering how to define innovation and tips and tricks on how to measure it. The discussion sheds light on both innovation blockers and enablers, exploring concepts like psychological safety, cognitive diversity, trust, and fear. Furthermore, the conversation addresses the challenges and opportunities of innovation amidst an economic downturn and the transformative impact of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence. The second part of the episode explores the defining traits of a genuine catalyst, driving impactful change within large organisations. A “cathartic and energising episode”. Show Notes [00:00] Teaser & Innovation Metrics Podcast Intro [01:35] Introducing the Guests, Susie Braam & Ed Essey Susie and Ed have known each other and worked together for a while. Both have also been quests on the show before. [03:22] What is Innovation? Different definitions for innovation are offered Susie defines innovation as something new that improves our lives, a combination of novelty and impact. The importance of a shared language within organizations for understanding innovation is emphasized. Innovation under the current economic climate and technological shifts is discussed. Susie defines innovation as something new that makes our lives better in some way, a combination of novelty and impact. Ed presents a metaphor where innovation can be viewed as fruit, trees, or soil, depending on the focus of innovation efforts. Everybody emphasizes the importance of speaking the same language within an organization to align on the understanding of innovation. The challenges faced by innovation leaders are discussed, especially when innovation is narrowly defined as focusing solely on generating new products and services (the fruit) without considering the importance of culture and processes (trees and soil). Ed notes that such roles often face challenges due to the pressure for immediate high returns, making it difficult for them to stay in the position for long. The conversation shifts to the current economic climate, with Susie noting that many organizations are more cautious and focused on optimization and efficiencies due to a possible recession. Ed adds that it's an interesting time for technology as there's a generational shift with language models like GPT becoming more accessible, which offer new opportunities for innovation. They agree that companies that embrace the potential of new technologies and continue to invest in exploration are likely to succeed in the long run. [19:22] How do you think innovation should be measured? The questions are divided into measuring innovation outcome vs process. The challenges of measuring progress in the innovation process are discussed. Susie emphasizes the importance of valuing learning and articulating progress through visual methods, such as using business model canvases or two-by-twos to show innovation risk and potential. Susie suggests metrics such as understanding how much closer innovation gets to the vision, potential scale and actual scale of impact, efficiency, speed, accuracy, quality, joy, behavioural shifts, and the consequences of action and inaction. The difficulty in measuring non-events, such as success in preventing security incidents, and drawing parallels to the value of preventative medicine in health insurance is explored. Innovation is like health insurance for organizations - nobody wants to get sick but if someone gets sick it's good to be insured. For organisations, this means being prepared for future changes and disruptions. The discussion concludes with the understanding that innovation should encompass both risk mitigation and planning for growth and constant improvement in different areas, which is crucial for an organization's overall health and success. [39:17] What is the biggest blocker to innovation in your or in large organizations? One of the biggest blockers to innovation in large organizations is short-term thinking and prioritization of shipping something over impact. Leaders often focus on immediate delivery and may shut down exploration prematurely, closing off potential opportunities for innovation. Fear and Psychological Safety: Fear is another significant blocker to innovation . Fear of failure, wasting resources, or going against the consensus opinion can hinder creativity and risk-taking. Psychological safety, on the other hand, is about creating an environment where individuals feel safe to express themselves, ask questions, and offer dissenting opinions without fear of negative consequences. Leveraging Cognitive Diversity: Teams with cognitive diversity, where members bring different perspectives and cognitive skills, have better innovation outcomes . However, to leverage this diversity effectively, organizations need to foster psychological safety so that team members feel comfortable expressing their diverse opinions. Measurement of Psychological Safety: Psychological safety and cognitive diversity can be measured through surveys and instruments like those developed by Amy Edmondson's team at Harvard Business School. These tools help assess how safe team members feel to speak up, offer opinions, and take risks. Ambidextrous Organizations: To foster innovation, organizations need to balance the execution of current business models with the exploration of new ideas and opportunities. Creating a culture of psychological safety and embracing cognitive diversity can help organizations become more ambidextrous and innovative. Research: Microsoft is collaborating with Sense Worldwide to conduct research on cognitive diversity in teams to understand their impact on innovation outcomes. This ongoing research aims to provide insights into team dynamics and potential strategies for enhancing innovation within organizations. Microsoft has a wealth of data here, given the organisation is running the world's largest hackathon with over 10,000 projects to date. [01:03:19] The Catalyst This part of the conversation is centred around the topic of organizational catalysts, their traits, and the challenges they face. Leaders should identify and nurture these individuals to drive impactful change. Susie has been researching this subject and has conducted interviews to understand what motivates these catalysts and how they can be nurtured and supported in organizations. Some key themes that emerged from the discussion include: Traits of Catalysts: Catalysts are highly curious, impact-driven, collaborative, energetic, and tend to have a growth mindset. They see the big picture and are self-motivated. Genuine catalysts are holistic in their approach, looking for ways to make the entire organization better. Leaders' Role: Leaders can support catalysts by providing autonomy and space for exploration while also offering challenges and support. They need to genuinely encourage and support innovation rather than push their own predetermined solutions. Disruptors vs. Disruptive: There is a distinction between genuine catalysts and those who are merely disruptive. Genuine catalysts are collaborative and open-minded, while disruptive individuals may be egocentric and focused on their own ideas. Psychological Safety: Catalysts often face challenges and resistance in traditional organizations, leading to feelings of loneliness and frustration. Leaders should create a psychologically safe environment for them to thrive. Self-Care: Catalysts need to take care of their mental health and know when to step back from an idea or project that is not progressing due to external constraints. [01:22:19] Closing Off The closing part of the conversation touches upon the importance of trust in fostering a healthy and innovative work environment. Fear and lack of trust can be significant blockers to innovation and the success of catalysts within organizations. Building trust requires understanding each other better and being vulnerable with one another. Ed mentions the Prisoner's Dilemma, which is a game theory concept where individuals must make decisions based on trust and cooperation. He highlights that in the long run, the best outcome tends to be mutual support and kindness. Elijah is a bit of a downer and is going through some healing :) Susie emphasizes the value of having conversations with like-minded individuals, like the one on this podcast, as it can be cathartic and energizing. About the Guests Ed Essey Ed Essey helps intrapreneurs have, test, and grow brilliant ideas in the Microsoft Garage . He is an MIT grad, serial founder, and veteran product leader who is passionate about technology, creating great culture, and innovating through experimentation. During his engineering career, Ed has researched AI, worked on Microsoft Office, and democratized parallel computing. He has led company-wide change management programs in innovation, design-thinking, and agile methodologies that have helped over 25,000 employees earn raving fans for their products. He is the founder of the Garage experimental outlet that has delivered over 150 new and exciting projects to market. Ed practices mindfulness to bring his most courageous and caring self to every connection. He champions wise technology, because the best products cannot stop at intelligence, they need wisdom. Ed lives in Seattle with his two children. To find out more about Ed, please visit edessey.com to read his articles on innovation, incubation, and growth. Susie Braam Susie Braam spent 20 years in the public sector working a broad spectrum of roles and experiences. Predominantly in the National Security arena, she dealt with many fast-paced, changing and complex situations. Between 2016 and 2022, Susie led innovation and digital transformation efforts within the UK Government as Head of Innovation first at the Ministry of Defence and then at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Entrepreneur and Founder In 2020, Susie co-founded Yellow Cat , an Innovation Training and Coaching company focussed on supporting those corporate heroes who are trying to transform their organisations from within. Yellow Cat also supports student innovation teams, start-ups and small businesses in business model design and development. In late 2020, the end of a challenging and tumultuous year, Susie went on to establish Mulberry Retreats , with the aim of providing sanctuary and optimism to individuals in challenging leadership positions. The mission at Mulberry Retreats is to empower leaders with the mindset, skills and confidence to create a positive future for themselves, their organisations and the people within. Guest Speaker and Writer Susie routinely writes and speaks about leadership, strategy and innovation, providing insights from her experience and thought leadership. She has a natural and engaging style and her refreshingly candid approach makes her a popular speaker. Susie lives in south-east London with her family. Check out our innovation accounting program…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 14 The Fruit Tree Analogy: Cultivating Business Value at Microsoft Garage 1:04:14

2 years前1:04:14

1:04:14

About the Episode Elijah Eilert is talking to Ed Essey Director of Business Value at the Microsoft Garage. In this episode, Ed introduces an analogy of an fruit tree to explain innovation. The tree represents the innovation system that delivers fruit or innovation projects. The soil is the nourishing culture for the tree to produce. Unsuccessful fruits fall down and become fertilisers for the tree. Ed emphasizes the importance of creating organisational ambidexterity to execute known businesses while creating entirely new ones. The discussion on measuring innovation explores innovation accounting and dives into storyboarding, hypothesis-driven financial modelling, ‘Stakeholder Development’, modelling and what metrics to focus on. Further the three factors in decision-making: merit, alignment, and executive judgment. This episode covers lots of ground in an authentic chat with a great human being. About the Guest Ed Essey helps intrapreneurs have, test, and grow brilliant ideas in the Microsoft Garage. He is an MIT grad, serial founder, and veteran product leader who is passionate about technology, creating great culture, and innovating through experimentation. During his engineering career, Ed has researched AI, worked on Microsoft Office, and democratized parallel computing. He has led company-wide change management programs in innovation, design-thinking, and agile methodologies that have helped over 25,000 employees earn raving fans for their products. He is the founder of the Garage experimental outlet that has delivered over 150 new and exciting projects to market. Ed practices mindfulness to bring his most courageous and caring self to every connection. He champions wise technology, because the best products cannot stop at intelligence, they need wisdom. Ed lives in Seattle with his two children. To find out more about Ed, please visit edessey.com to read his articles on innovation, incubation, and growth. Connect with Ed LinkedIn / Twitter / Website / Medium Topics and Insights [00:02:00] Defining Innovation – Discussing the difference between invention and innovation and how innovation is taking something new or a new approach to something and following it through until a problem is solved. [00:02:46] Innovation as an Fruit Tree – Ed introduces the analogy of an fruit tree to explain innovation. The tree is the system or program that delivers fruit i.e. innovation projects. The soil is the nourishing culture for the tree. If an innovation doesn’t work out and the metaphorical fruit falls to the ground, it is not seen as a failure but the gained insights or learnings become fertiliser for the soil. [00:06:16] Organizational Ambidexterity – Ed talks about the importance of creating organisational ambidexterity, which is to be able to relentlessly execute unknown businesses on the one hand and then on the other hand to be able to create entirely new businesses. [00:09:52] Measuring Innovation – How to measure innovation/how should innovation be measured? How the concept of innovation accounting coined by Eric Ries was a bit hard to figure out How Tristan Kromer worked on it and created a clear answer for Ed with the Innovation Accounting Program David Binetties concept of Innovation Options Ed covers how he has modelled his internal innovation program using innovation accounting How to model from a manager’s perspective How to use the results to influence and drive outcome On Stakeholder Development (Borrowing from the term Customer Development). Make sure to ask managers and sponsors questions and try to flip the conversation on its head. How the Innovation Accounting Program led to Ed changing his title from Entrepreneurship at Microsoft to Director of Business Value at the Garage [00:17:00] Modeling Business Strategy – Ed shares his experience of modelling his boss’s business strategy as a funnel, using innovation accounting. Emphasizing the importance of understanding the overall strategy and metrics of the organisation. [00:27:52] Sponsorship and Project Selection – Discussion on the importance of project selection and sponsorship, and the potential bias in selecting only sponsored projects. [00:30:01] Factors in Decision Making – The three factors in decision making: merit, alignment, and executive judgment, and the importance of understanding how executives make decisions [00:33:55] Understanding Manager’s Goals – The importance of understanding a sponsor’s charter and goals, and how to have a compelling conversation to show how an idea can support their strategies. [00:36:28] Sponsor Development – The concept of sponsor development, which is similar to customer development, and the importance of understanding a sponsor’s goals and perspective. [00:37:14] Measuring Innovation – Discussion on how to measure innovation and the importance of defining the word “should” more crisply [00:37:48] Challenges of Measuring Innovation – Exploring the challenges that large corporations face in measuring innovation at scale. [00:41:03] Storyboarding and Innovation Accounting – Discussion on the Innovation Accounting Program and the importance of storyboarding and hypothesis-driven financial modelling for measuring innovation. [00:47:38] Adapting to Change – Challenges engineers face with transitions and adapting to change. [00:48:24] Asking Questions – Transitioning to discussing the three questions that will make up the podcast. [00:49:30] Innovation Blockers – About the main blockers for innovation in large organisations. Innovation Accounting Program https://kromatic.com/programs/innovation-accounting https://innovationmetrics.co/workshops/innovation-accounting-course/…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 13 The Science Behind Becoming an Entrepreneur & the Role of Free Access to Knowledge for Innovation 59:58

2 years前59:58

59:58

Elijah Eilert is talking to Matt Clancy about what makes people become entrepreneurs and how the accessibility of information fosters innovation. The episode is guided by some of Matt's publications that he summarizes for us before discussing the findings further. The first main topic of discussion is about the "idea" of being an entrepreneur and how entrepreneurship is contagious. The findings from various studies show that people are more likely to start a business if they have been around entrepreneurs or have entrepreneurial role models close to them. However, being around former entrepreneurs doesn't necessarily make it more likely to start a successful business. The second main topic is about the effect of access to knowledge on innovation. The discussion is based on three different papers that explore the relationship between knowledge access and innovation. The findings suggest that access to knowledge boosts innovation.…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 12 How to Measure Australia's Innovation Ecosystem - Understanding the Lastest Innovation Metrics Review 29:20

2 years前29:20

29:20

Elijah Eilert is talking to Joseph Brookes about the Innovation Metrics Review, a report that assesses the way Australia is currently measuring innovation, and then makes recommendations on how it can be improved. The Australian Government commissioned the review discussed in this episode due to a recommendation from Innovation and Science Australia in 2017. The review was finally released by the new government on September 30th 2022.…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 11 Breathing Life into Organisations on Innovation Life Support 1:03:42

2 years前1:03:42

1:03:42

Elijah Eilert is talking to Susie Braam about what keeps innovators within large organisations going and what makes it really hard for them. Susie shares what good leadership behaviour looks like, the problems with short-term thinking and how to carve out the necessary space for a strategic approach to innovation.…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 10 The Innovation Metrics Podcast - A Retrospective 45:56

3 years前45:56

45:56

Elijah Eilert is talking to Oliver Durrer . Oliver is sharing insights from his accomplished career in corporate innovation. He is also helping Elijah do a Retro on the podcast for this 10th episode: What went well? What didn’t go well? What to do next? This episode is a bit different from others as it focuses less on specific lessons for innovation teams and leaders and more on personal experiences. “Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change” – Brené Brown…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 09 The Importance of Evidence Based Storytelling in Innovation 49:47

3 years前49:47

49:47

About the Episode Elijah Eilert is talking to Tendayi Viki about the power and pitfalls of storytelling in the context of innovation management. A well told story has the power to move us, we are biologically programmed to buy into storytelling. The problem is that often in an innovation context a well told story bypasses logic and reason, selling a tall story devoid of facts. This lively and fun conversation will challenge your thinking and approach when it comes to storytelling in an innovation context. Whether a sceptic or a fan of well told stories, the question arises, how do we best design a system that fosters evidence-based storytelling? To what degree does storytelling need to be encouraged or even regulated? We are trying to use evidence to make investment decisions. The thing that’s hidden from us is the quality of the evidence because we weren’t there when the experiments were being run. – Tendayi Viki Topics and Insights (01:00) Introducing Tendayi and some of his professional biography (03:00) Elijah asks “Where is the middle ground? How should we use stories appropriately and where should we not use stories?” (Tendayi recommends the book Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert.) (08:00) Tendayi speaks about visual storytelling and mentions the following book: Resonate: Present Visual Stories that Transform Audiences Alexander Osterwalder’s books (09:00) On how the best storytellers will always win. Good stories are irresistible. This means that the business environments need to be constrained and the question is how to do it well in order to extract stories that are more likely to be true (11:00) On the leap of faith component of investing in innovation (12:00) To what degree are all numbers in a financial/forecasting model for wacky? (16:00) Placing a lot of bets is the fundamental principle to increase the chances of success for an innovation portfolio . It is also an antidote to the negative impact of an infactual story. (18:00) How history is packed with scientists refusing data and evidence (23:00) Elijah starts coming to terms with the fact that storytelling will always play a role in investment decisions. If a story is not provided the other person will make one up. (24:00) On the fact that investment decisions should be made based on evidence. (25:30) Storytelling should have a format, get Tendayi’s template : S GET THE TEMPLATE (26:30) Innovation as a wicked problem (28:30) How humans are not designed to think probabilistic (32:00) Storytelling after scaling and IPO (33:00) Where storytelling in innovation is helpful (34:30) Running a con is possible with or without storytelling You can run a con without telling stories by faking the data You can run a con without data by just telling stories You can run a con with the data by deliberately misinterpreting them (37:00) Forensic innovation accounting roles – innovation bookkeepers and innovation accountants (38:00) The use of qualitative data in Customer Discovery (40:00) Elijah messes up Monte Carlo Simulation and Ranges (the inputs of the simulation) (42:00) Should we test purely data-based investment decisions for innovation projects? (47:40) Tendayi’s closing remarks, reinforcing why we need Evidence Based Storytelling Connect with Tendayi Website / LinkedIn / Twitter…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 08 Innovation Accounting – The Second System 51:15

3 years前51:15

51:15

01:00 Introducing Esther 03:00 Esther's reasons for writing the Innovation Accounting Book include finding an answer to corporates hindering governance structure to transformational innovation by outlining a second system that operates in parallel to the core. 06:00 On the process of writing a book and, moreover, a book that is pushing the boundaries. 09:30 Defining innovation accounting “The tools, processes and systems an organisation needs to monitor the progress of high-risk disruptive ventures”. This is more than just a set of indicators, it is several levels of governance indicators to enable decision-making. The three core layers of innovation accounting abstract information to the one above. The three core layers of innovation accounting as defined in the book are Tactical Innovation Accounting Managerial Innovation Accounting Strategic Innovation Accounting Interlinked, but not in a way that information can be abstracted as directly to the higher level, are Innovation Accounting for Shareholders Innovation Accounting for Culture and Capability 12:30 How innovation accounting can help shareholders value innovation efforts 15:30 Innovation success depends on the number of bets a company can place. Companies need to test at least 50 ideas in their funnel and increase confidence about or kill them early on. As Tendayi Viki says “You can not pick the winners!” 20:30 High-risk new business models take a long time, often 5 - 12 years. Startups often look like an overnight success but that is rarely ever true. How empathy is often a desired trait of innovation teams engaged in building better products. It is also needed by innovation managers for senior leadership and shareholders, in order to build a better system 24:00 Accounting must evolve when it becomes insufficient for what it has to account for and model 25:00 How to get CEO’s and CFO’s to accept and get used to different measures 29:00 The differences between an innovation funnel and an innovation portfolio or pipeline, and the importance of being internally aligned in defining them 32:00 Innovation Portfolio vs Portfolio 40:30 How often should CEOs be involved in portfolio management, and how often they need to look at the dashboard - as so often it depends 42:30 The funnel is the execution of the innovation strategy 43:00 Innovation accounting should be a part of business intelligence 44:30 People from corporate accounting, controlling and governance are reaching out to Ester to better understand how they can provide value to the company in this space, specifically as more and more of what they are doing is getting automated. 46:30 The future job profiles of innovation accountants and bookkeepers 49:00 Esthers vision for innovation accounting in 10 years “As an accepted system for high-risk search that has its own place possibly within the accounting function of corporate.”…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 07 Unit Economics: How to Calculate CAC & LTV - It Depends 57:40

3 years前57:40

57:40

About the Episode Elijah Eilert speaks to Paul Orlando about his book Growth Units to discover how to best calculate Customer Acquisition Cost and Lifetime Value. Paul tells us how to significantly improve common calculation methods and how to use those to make critical business decisions. Understanding revenue and cost on a per unit basis for Startups/innovation projects is vital but even established businesses have a lot to gain from doing it right. Topics and Insights (01:00) Introducing Paul Orlando and his book Growth Units , the foundation of this episode. Paul initially wrote the book as a reaction to the change in teaching environment caused by Covid 19. This insightful and entertaining book was originally designed to assist with the teaching of University of Southern California students. (06:30) An overview of Unit Economics, Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). (09:00) Exploring the value of analysing the unit level like price per unit cost to serve that unit number of times someone stays to buy that unit over the business level like total revenue total cost ... The aggregate or business level doesn’t help when the product is still being developed, Product/Market-Fit is not yet established, a profitable channel is still to be determined, and so on. (11:00) Customer Acquisition Cost means how much money it takes a business to bring someone in and turn into a customer such as word of mouth, paid advertising, sales team, and so on. Lifetime Value is a measure of gross profit a business earns from a customer over time. It often takes more time to understand this than it does to understand CAC. (15:00) CAC over LTV is fundamental to understanding product performance and analysing specific customer segments. It provides a much more forensic look into the performance of the business. This is not just helpful from the product development side, but also for figuring out the best way to grow, what kind of customer should or should not be acquired through paid advertisement, referral or stick around for as long as possible. (17:30) To properly calculate CAC, one has to look more granularly into the sales funnel. What happens when a customer comes “in the door”, either physically or online, when and how do they become actual customers. There are essentially two parts to this. (19:00) The different steps in a conversion funnel depend on the type of business and customer behaviours. Pirate Metrics is a great default framework to establish this. (20:00) The boundary between Acquisition and Activation is not always clear, teams have to ultimately figure it out for themselves, as so often - it depends! (23:30) How to calculate Customer Acquisition Cost An Unhelpful way of calculating CAC : total spent on marketing in period / number of new customers in this period A reason why this is not helpful, is because it misses the time factor. The marketing dollars spent in a particular period might not be related to the customers onboarded during this same time frame. Another reason is that it does not take customer segmentation into account. It subsequently won’t tell us what segment is particularly lucrative or what segment we don’t want to attract going forward. A better way of calculating CAC: cost to get a potential customer “in the door” / becoming a customer For example, if it costs $10 to get someone “in the door”, and 10% of those people convert, then the CAC will be $100 An even better way of calculating CAC: The cost of getting a customer into the door / conversion rate by cohort Different channels have different CACs, and it is crucial for a business to understand it to scale/grow. As much as possible I stay away from the average. Once you do this, you lose a lot of information.” (27:30) How to pick one initiative over another (30:00) On how much larger CAC has to be in relation to LTV. 3 or 4 to 1 is common, but this metric on its own can be very deceiving without looking at payback time. Paul gives an example from his book. In this example CAC/LTV looks great but the payback time for the initial investment is 3 years, making it impossible to grow for this particular business model. So what is the right CAC:LTV ratio? As Pauls would say - “It depends”. (32:00) LTV is like a river, it flows. (33:00) A bad dad joke from Elijah & a shoutout to Ana for the podcast post-production. (40:00) How to calculate Lifetime Value LTV is harder to calculate than CAC, mainly because LTV is calculated over time. An unhelpful way of calculating LTV: Most commonly LTV is calculated by revenue, the price of the product. A better way of calculating LTV: LTV should be broken down into three parts Price of the Product - Cost of the Product x Number of repeat purchases Unit Price Unit cost Repeat Purchase (Retention Metric) It is important not to hide the parts of the calculation as too much context would be lost. In other words vital information to drive the business. Paul gives a great example of how this drives vital business decisions. An even better way to calculate LTV: LTV should be expressed as a timeseries. As mentioned earlier, LTV is like a river that flows. This means that one needs to account for specific cohorts from a specific channel in a specific month. (41:00) On Weighted Gross Margins and Negative Churn. (43:00) A perspective on Product/Market-Fit (PMF). More important than what PMF truly means, is the fact that teams and organisations have an internal definition. Similarly to the term innovation. It is very hard to reach a goal and be effective without a common definition. Elements of Product/Market-Fit are It is possible to grow organically, low or no CAC Further growth is possible Profitability at a unit basis High retention (47:30) Using the Sean Ellis test to determine some degree of PMF. (49:30) PMF is the demarcation line for taking the next step in growing a business and trying to scale it. (50:30) Paul and Elijah went on a long diversion ending up at innovation accounting but somehow found their way back (51:30) Finishing off with a case study from Paul's book about Data Storage and how Gmail and Dropbox were able to launch and scale before the unit economics made sense. This is because they were able to accurately predict the drop in costs. About the Guest Paul Orlando has built startup accelerators/incubators around the world (Los Angeles, Rome, Hong Kong, and remote). He is Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Southern California and runs USC’s on-campus Incubator for businesses founded by students, alumni and faculty. Paul advises large organizations on internal product innovation, rapid experimentation and growth. He wrote Growth Units, a book on unit economics. Connect with Paul Website / LinkedIn / Twitter…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 06 Understanding the ISO Standard for Innovation Management - Concepts & Benefits 1:03:58

3 years前1:03:58

1:03:58

About the Episode Elijah Eilert speaks to Andy Cars , the founder and CEO of Lean Ventures International, about ISO standards for innovation management. Having participated in the ISO creation process, Andy Cars will discuss the concepts around ISO standards and how organisations can benefit from them. The aim is to create a long-term innovation strategy and transform an organisation's culture into a value creation mindset. Topics and Insights (01:09) Introducing Andy Cars owner of Lean Ventures International AB (03:52) Discussing Andy's contribution to the ISO standards for innovation management (05:31) Providing an overview of the ISO standards for innovation management and its structure: ISO 56000 - Fundamentals and vocabulary, 2019 ISO 56001 - Innovation management system - Requirements, 2026 (TBC) ISO 56002 - Innovation management system - Guidance, July 2019 ISO 56003 - Tools and methods for innovation partnership - Guidance, Feb 2019 ISO 56004 - Innovation Management Assessment - Guidance, Feb 2019 ISO 56005 - Intellectual property management - Guidance, Nov 2020 ISO 56006 - Strategic intelligence management - Guidance, 2021 (TBC) ISO 56007 - Idea management - Guidance, 2021 (TBC) ISO 56008 - Innovation Operation Measurements - Guidance, 2022(TBC) (07:05) This ISO series is better seen as “ centred around a number of core principles that are there as a guide for organisations to have when they are trying to implement an innovation management system ” and less as a standard where a company can receive an actual certificate (10:36) Why it is important to define innovation and how the standards can help (12:57) The principles of The Agile Manifesto and their similarity to ISO 56000 is discussed as a set of principles rather than as a traditional standard the ISO establishes (14:31) The 8 principles of ISO 56000:2020 : 1. Realization of value 2. Future-focused leaders 3. Strategic direction 5. Culture 4. Exploiting insights 6. Managing uncertainty 7. Adaptability 8. Systems approach (15:42) On the axiom for innovation management to identify and focus on the barriers to innovation (16:27) How to use ISO to optimise innovation ecosystems systematically (16:28) Why innovation is a long-term marathon rather than a 100-metre sprint, and why organisations need to consistently develop a muscle for innovation (18:48) Changes in the organisation's culture and insights start with an entrepreneurial mindset Going into the specifics of principle 6. Managing Uncertainty that is defined by the ISO. The definition nicely illustrates the general nature of the standard “ Innovation activities need to address high degrees of variation and uncertainty, particularly during the early creative phases. They're exploratory and characterised by search, experimentation and learning. As the process progresses, knowledge is gained, and uncertainty is reduced.” (19:00) On the need for an innovation strategy (21:40) The Value Proposition of the standards and specifically 56002 is a great way of getting started with building a proper system. Secondly, it enables the ability to influence leadership and the rest of the organisation with a peer reviewed approach that is backed by a well regarded organisation (22:32) Andy and Elijah are clearly outed as nerds, proving that innovation management is clearly maturing (25:05) On major red flags for innovation in large organisations, which are, for example, a lack of ownership and a disconnection from the people for whom value is created for. (26:42) Tips around measuring innovation culture (32:43) On the 40 different barriers to innovation , identified by Andy, such as a lack of budget, lack of full-time innovation teams ... (32:45) On the likelihood of innovation success and how many bets it takes to win (32:50) On innovation as an insurance policy (33:54) How incentives are directly connected to building a culture of innovation in an organisation. Earnings per Share (EPS) as a KPI for senior management can be a problem for a long-term innovation strategy. (35:32) How well can analysts be informed about the innovative potential of a company? How to incentivise CEOs to invest in innovation by talking about their legacy (43:33) The importance of targeting the right market to create value innovation (45:29) How the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE) can help with a better incentive structure for innovation (53:48) innovation could be institutionalised as the “fourth bottom line” in addition to the triple bottom line accounting system, where social and environmental reports are added to traditional financial reports (people, planet, profit + innovation). (54:00) On the need for a Chief Entrepreneurship/Innovation Officer (as championed by Alexander Osterwalder ). (54:25) On innovation and making this world a better place. The first principle of the ISO is the realisation of value and that is not only monetary value (and a silly joke from Elijah, that worked out for a change). The ISO definition for value is: “Value is not limited to financial value, but can be any kind of value should such as experience wellbeing or social value” (56:17) On wellbeing and how it should appear more often on the agenda within large multinational organisations Innovating within large organisations is hard for individuals, and until a properly designed and managed system to innovate is established, it most likely will not change. About the Guest Andy is a serial entrepreneur with 16 years of international experience. In addition to coaching more than 200 startup teams on how to take their ideas to market, he has worked with some of the world’s largest companies to help build their innovation capabilities. Andy is currently on the investment committee of the European Innovation Council that is tasked with funding European startups. He has also co-written ISO 56002, the world’s first international guiding standard for innovation management. Andy is passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship and likes to see both the businesses and people that he works with grow and prosper. Connect with Andy Website / LinkedIn / Twitter…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 05 Fundamentals of Metered Funding & Stage Gates for Innovation 51:11

3 years前51:11

51:11

About the Episode Elijah Eilert speaks to Tristan Kromer about the fundamentals of a VC-like funding approach for corporate innovation that releases resources over time in exchange for specific evidence. Funding a startup or corporate venture from idea to scale is becoming increasingly outdated. Applying traditional stage-gate funding models for innovation projects come with a set of issues on their own. Discover the fundamentals of what Eric Ries calls Metered Funding and how to design an effective incremental funding approach for innovation. Ideally, each decision point or gate is dictated by uncertainty. In reality, it does not really matter if the uncertainty relates to Desirability, Feasibility or Viability. If innovation accounting techniques are applied we can quantify where exactly the uncertainty lies. Otherwise, designing the first gate around desirability is probably a good bet. As for the vast majority of cases, a lack of customer understanding is the biggest risk. Topics and Insights (02:00) Elijah skips talking about problems associated with funding a project from idea to scale , preferring to start by discussing the common issues with stage-gate funding specifically for innovation projects. (05:30) Introducing the basics of metered funding/stage gates which are based on impact, not ticking boxes or entitlement funding . (06:00) How to call decision points in the innovation funnel and who oversees them – stages gates, phase gates, scales gates, stakeholder meetings, innovation committee, steering committee, investment boards, innovation boards , investor board, growth board and so on. (08:00) Using the analogy for innovation boards being gas stations at a decision point/stage gates. By default, innovators run out of resources – gas/petrol. The gas station gets paid in the form of valuable information that the project is good, i.e. it delivers value and can therefore fuel up again. (10:00) On the term “scale gates”, what it implies, the fact that Elijah may be the only one who has adopted it and broccoli flavoured ice cream is mentioned! (16:00) Common names and concepts for decision points. Typically four stages are used. The Corporate Startup book provides one of the best ‘off the shelf’ solutions for creating scale gates. (20:00) Designing the right decision points (gates) depends on the type of innovation and industry we are looking at. (21:45) Any system needs to have adequate desirability, feasibility and viability. Validating these should ideally be prioritised by risk and nothing else. In most cases, desirability is the riskiest factor. (26:00) Brief overview and classification of innovation – Core, Adjacent & Transformational and whether they need a different funding system. (27:00) The reasons for different management approaches to innovation for managers and organisations as a whole may be different. Organisations long for better predictability and managers may also want to change the culture. (28:00) 99% of the time, customer demand is the biggest risk and it should usually be the first decision point. Ideally, the financial model is based on ranges for each variable. The model needs to inform us if it is at least theoretically possible to get a certain amount of ROI ; what the most uncertain variable is. This uncertain variable would be ‘the first gate’ and again, it is usually driven by a lack of consumer understanding – Desirability. (34:47) For ideas that are not going to work there is a way to quantify earlier by utilising innovation accounting. (37:02) Gates and their specific order is always simplifying something and in place to give people something they can understand and work towards. Any system needs to be flexible enough to override if required. (40:20) Discussing the point when a predictive model makes sense, i.e. how early. (46:15) We finally found one thing that does not make sense to be quantified – Founder-Market-Fit i.e. “do founders care about the problem they are working on?” For corporates, it is important to assign the right team to the right project. (53:15) Recap Show Transcript SHOW TRANSCRIPT About the Guest A As the founder of Kromatic , Tristan works with innovation teams and leaders to create amazing products and build innovation ecosystems. Tristan has worked with more than 30 technology accelerator programs, including government-funded initiatives such as Innovation Norway , Vinnova (Sweden), Enterprise Ireland , NEST’up (Belgium), StartSmart (Estonia), and the Innovation Partnership Program (Vietnam-Finland). He has designed lean startup programs such as the Build or Die Bootcamp for TechBA (Mexico) and the Boom Reactor (Belgium) in addition to being part of Luxr, whose Core Curriculum has been used by 13 accelerators internationally, including Singularity University, 500 Startups, & The United States Innovation Fellows. He has worked with companies ranging from early stage startups with zero revenue to established businesses with >$10M USD revenue ( Kiva , Cancer Research U.K. , TES ) to enterprise companies with >$50B USD revenue ( Unilever , Swisscom , Salesforce , Fujitsu , LinkedIn ). Tristan regularly speaks, appears on panels, and gives workshops internationally with organizations such as the Stanford Center for Entrepreneurial Studies & D-school, Global Product Management Talks, Lean Startup Machine, General Electric (GE) , and more. With his remaining hours, Tristan volunteers his time with early stage startups . Originally from New York City, he has lived in Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and currently resides in San Francisco, USA. Connect with Tristan Website / LinkedIn / Twitter…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 04 Finding a Common Framework & Post Launch Metrics 1:08:46

3 years前1:08:46

1:08:46

About the Episode Elijah Eilert speaks to Jael Kong who until recently was working with a leading FMCG company. She is jam-packed with insights and will speak with us about the systemic problems large organisations have when making (kill, pivot, persevere) decisions specifically after launching new products. Jael also gives us a glimpse into an early post-launch tracking approach that leverages the Pirate Metrics Framework ((A)AARRR). Our favourite quote from Jael: “We often underestimate what we can achieve in a year and way overestimate what we can do in a day - that's the mother of stress.” Jael’s Cheatsheet for Metrics and Data Sources “Jael Kong’s Cheatsheet for Metrics and Data Sources” draws on the Pirate Metric Framework ((A)AARRR). Use it for pre and early post launch product tracking to support critical kill, pivot, persevere decisions. GET THE CHEAT SHEET Topics and Insights (00:50) Introducing Jael and her company LevelUPPP (03:00) 80% of product launches fail and how to define failure (05:00) The issues with lagging indicators (07:30) On Product-Market-Fit and the problem with placing too many large scale and expensive bets (13:00) Why it is hard to Pivot in a system that is designed for execution with siloed teams and different KPI’s (15:30) The accountability/non-accountability of early innovation teams post-launch (17:00) How to improve the handover and knowledge transfer between teams (20:00) On the use of Experiment Report Cards / Learning Report Cards (23:00) The need for an Innovation Bookkeeper / Innovation Accountant) (27:30) A systematic approach to post launch tracking - Get Jael’s Cheat Cheat for Metrics & Data Sources “If it’s not measured, it's not treasured” (29:30) The issue with placing more bets than a company can handle and monitor (31:30) On innovation ecosystems that rewards the wrong behaviour (33:30) How the Pirate Metrics Framework / Innovation Accounting can be part of the solution (43:00) Using Pirate Metrics for an ‘Early Post Launch Tracker' and introducing dog food as an example (46:30) How to measure customer satisfaction (or the dog food user satisfaction) (51:30) The importance for financial viability and the potential disconnect between innovation teams and business analysts/finance departments (54:00) Early indicators and Jael’s book Living Happily Ever After (56:30) How alignment, clear goals, reward structure and open communication are essential for pivots and how to do it, including retargeting. (106:00) Jael’s biggest tips for corporate innovators About the Guest Jael Kong is passionate about developing people and teams to their most powerful selves, and no surprise, through innovating themselves and their contribution to the ecosystem around them. Jael has recently stepped down from a full-time corporate innovator leadership role in a leading FMCG company and started her own consultancy LevelUPPP to dedicate more time to supporting teams, leaders, and individuals to better achieve their goals in a sustained manner. Jael Kong is a Certified Professional Co-active Coach and accredited by the International Coach Federation and a certified Agile Team Coach. With over 17 years of human insights experience in different matrix corporations and having lived and worked out of Singapore, China, and currently The Netherlands, Jael discovered her purpose and calling in supporting her fellow human beings in their search for a more meaningful fulfilling life. Jael is also the author of Life Happily Ever After - Find It Between Your Choice And Commitment . A book to accompany you on your personal adventure to pursue more fulfilment and satisfaction. The book is filled with practical exercises and reflection questions grounded in coaching principles and techniques. Connect with Jael Email / LinkedIn About the Host…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 03 Innovation Accounting - Ranges are Key 55:26

4 years前55:26

55:26

About the Podcast The Innovation Metrics podcast provides insights on measuring innovation, innovation accounting and managing the uncertain process of developing new, sustainable and profitable business models. About the Episode Tristan Kromer speaks with us about the pitfalls of early-stage predictions in startups and corporate innovation initiatives, and how to drastically improve them. “It’s ok to ask innovators how a business is going to make money and how much. The problem is the way we traditionally expect them to produce the answer. The way we frame it can’t be answered effectively.” An emerging concept, enabling effective Innovation accounting, is to express variables as a range of likelihood not as single numbers. Subsequently, the outcome of the financial or mission impact model can be expressed as a range of likelihood rather than a wildly optimistic estimation of a single number. This enables innovators to quantify the uncertainty of each variable and the entire project. The innovation team’s job is to gather new insights and reduce uncertainty. Innovation accounting enables them to feed this back into the model by changing the estimated ranges and quantify what they have learned. By narrowing down the ranges based on a new insight teams gain the ability to demonstrate progress in a quantifiable way even before a product is launched. Topics and Insights (03:15) Nobody in innovation is happy with the way predictions are made. (07:00) Business cases tend not to be terrible when there is enough historical data available. (10:15) Human behaviour usually causes the most uncertainty. (12:00) There are legitimate reasons not to invest in innovation. (16:00) Asking if and how a startup will eventually make money is a fair question but the way the question is usually framed can’t be answered effectively. (18:00) Even businesses with a 10 year trading history have mostly terrible business cases. Warren Buffet who is known to only invest in companies with a long track record does not listen to forecasters when allocating resources. (“There is no business so lousy it can’t get a wonderful projection ” – Charlie Munger.) (20:30) Typical business cases don’t inform about uncertainty effectively. (21:30) Asking for best case, worst case estimation and dividing them by two is hardly an improvement. The solution to understanding uncertainty better is to allow for ranges. (24:30) Allowing for ranges is great for any type of project, not just innovation. (25:40) Expressing things in ranges has many benefits, amongst them, that it makes predictions more honest and more accurate. It also increases the sense of psychological safety and is simply easier. (28:00) If innovation accounting can assist in solving the problem of biases and favouring talented storytellers in securing funding. (29:30) Methods to battle certain biases during resource allocation. (31:15) On the usefulness of templates for auditioning. (33:00) Innovation accounting can measure and demonstrate progress by narrowing down the ranges. (36:40) In a state of extreme uncertainty, a little bit of information is telling us a lot. (37:40) Monte Carlo Simulations can be applied to the ranges thus making the predictions more accurate. (39:00) The art of entrepreneurship is the art of reducing uncertainty by getting information. (39:40) Fermi Decomposition demonstrates how complex problems, when broken down into simple steps, are easier to measure. From estimating the height of the Empire State Building to the output of a business model . (44:00) How this topic relates to the question of how to measure innovation teams , as discussed in a previous episode (Insight Velocity, Experimentation Velocity and quantifying the value of the information). (46:00) Discovered a new innovation team and culture measure in ‘ Percentage of Teams Asking for Help’. (46:30) Bridge the communication gap between innovation and finance, where both parties have to make one step towards each other (47:30) On metered funding and paying for information not for a product /ROI) (51:00) Innovation accounting should be about expressing uncertainty in a quantitative way and reducing the range of uncertainty as the project proceeds. (51:30) Innovation is a game of information and needs a portfolio perspective. The one with more information will increase the odds of success over time. (54:30) The innovation game, Plinkromatic , demonstrates the math behind funding innovation. (55:00) Elijah tried to be funny, guess the outcome. (55:30) Ranges are awesome Show Transcript FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT About the Guest As the founder of Kromatic , Tristan works with innovation teams and leaders to create amazing products and build innovation ecosystems. Tristan has worked with more than 30 technology accelerator programs, including government-funded initiatives such as Innovation Norway , Vinnova (Sweden), Enterprise Ireland , NEST’up (Belgium), StartSmart (Estonia), and the Innovation Partnership Program (Vietnam-Finland). He has designed lean startup programs such as the Build or Die Bootcamp for TechBA (Mexico) and the Boom Reactor (Belgium) in addition to being part of Luxr, whose Core Curriculum has been used by 13 accelerators internationally, including Singularity University, 500 Startups, & The United States Innovation Fellows. He has worked with companies ranging from early stage startups with zero revenue to established businesses with >$10M USD revenue ( Kiva , Cancer Research U.K. , TES ) to enterprise companies with >$50B USD revenue ( Unilever , Swisscom , Salesforce , Fujitsu , LinkedIn ). Tristan regularly speaks, appears on panels, and gives workshops internationally with organizations such as the Stanford Center for Entrepreneurial Studies & D-school, Global Product Management Talks, Lean Startup Machine, General Electric (GE) , and more. With his remaining hours, Tristan volunteers his time with early stage startups . Originally from New York City, he has lived in Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and currently resides in San Francisco, USA. Connect with Tristan Website / LinkedIn / Twitter RELATED INNOVATION WORKSHOPS & TRAINING Innovation Accounting Course Learn how to create a simple financial (or impact) model that works for innovation. MORE ABOUT THE COURSE…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 02 Why Innovation Teams have to be Measured Differently and How to do it - with Tristan Kromer 57:54

4 years前57:54

57:54

Title Why Innovation Teams have to be Measured Differently and How to do it - with Tristan Kromer About the Episode Tristan Kromer is talking to us about why innovation teams need to be measured differently from other product teams and how to do it. In other words, we are talking about how you can take practical steps to implement innovation accounting on a team level. Please let us know what measures you would add and why in the comments! Innovation Team Metrics Covered in this Episode Experimentation Velocity / % of teams that run experiments Insight Velocity / % of experiments that generate insights % of falsified hypothesis (validated/invalidated experiments ratio) Retrospectives / % of weeks teams have run retrospectives in the last month Qualitative data - team sprint demo (weekly, biweekly) Topics and Insights (01:40) The problem - why do we need to measure innovation teams differently (05:00) All teams should be measured against something they can control (06:00) For innovation teams, even product related lead indicators often can not be applied as the lead indicator might not yet be known (10:00) If Zombies were chasing Tristan, he might be able to run 5 blocks (11:00) Nobody knows what product teams will win, but we do know that teams which experiment and learn faster, have a much better chance to achieve Product Market Fit . Tom Eisenmann from Harvard University just released data to back up that claim (14:30) The solution - how to fairly and effectively measure innovation team (15:00) Separating the measurement of the product from the measurement of the team (15:40) Experimentation Velocity and Insight Velocity (19:00) Accounting for experiment and research cost (22:20) Elijah is having problems formulating a proper sentence and Yoga with Adriene comes up (23:30) The difference between an evaluative experiment and generative research (29:00) Should the evaluative experiment and generative research ratio be measured? (31:00) Product teams should never stop running interviews (31:30) Teams are likely to be more successful when they use a greater variety of experiments and call for more academic research into this topic! (33:15) We need better tools to record experiments and insights from innovation teams. (36:50) Tools for recording experiments (41:30) Going deeper into measuring Experimentation and Insight Velocity. (46:20) The amount of falsified hypotheses are another team performance indicator (52:00) Measure but don’t count (52:50) Teams also need to be measured against lead product/project indicators but each team needs to find out their own indicators or levers for success (55:00) Retrospectives, another important team measure (56:00) The importance of qualitative data like sprint demos Questions for our Listeners What team metrics do you recommend? How do you record experiments in your organisation? What can you recommend? Please comment below About the Cohost Tristan Kromer helps product teams go fast. As a Silicon Valley-based lean startup coach and founder of Kromatic , Tristan works with innovation teams to run at least one experiment/research per week to improve their product and business model. For larger companies and governments, Tristan and his team work with corporate teams and leaders to build innovation ecosystems. Tristan designed lean startup programs such as the Build or Die Bootcamp for TechBA (Mexico) and the Innovation Partnership Program (Vietnam-Finland) in addition to being part of Luxr, whose Core Curriculum has been used by 13 accelerators internationally, including Singularity University, 500 Startups, & The United States Innovation Fellows. He has worked with companies ranging from early stage startups with zero revenue to established businesses with >$10M USD revenue ( Kiva , Cancer Research U.K. , TES ) to enterprise companies with >$1B USD revenue ( Unilever , Swisscom , Salesforce , Fujitsu , LinkedIn ). Tristan regularly speaks, appears on panels, and gives workshops internationally with organizations such as the Stanford Center for Entrepreneurial Studies & D-school, Dubai Chamber of Commerce, General Electric (GE) , and more. Originally from New York City, he has lived in Germany, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and currently resides in San Francisco, USA. With his remaining hours, Tristan volunteers his time with early stage startups . Connect with Tristan Website / LinkedIn / Twitter…

Innovation Metrics Podcast

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EP 01 From Quarterly to Weekly Learning Cycles or “The Man in the Mirror” – with Oliver Durrer 43:49

4 years前43:49

43:49

From Quarterly to Weekly Learning Cycles or “The Man in the Mirror” – with Oliver Durrer Hosts/Guests Oliver Durrer , Elijah Eilert About the Episode Oliver shares his hands-on experience on corporate entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership and learning from his time at Nestle and Migros , building corporate startups and developing an innovation lab. He explains how they went from quarterly learning cycles to weekly and what it takes to get there. Finally, Oliver is going to tell us his biggest secret/takeaway for innovators, especially within large organisations. We hope that you enjoy listening to – “The Man in the Mirror”. Topics and Insights 04:00 Overcoming challenges in communicating with leadership in the pre-revenue phase when learning is the primary focus. 11:30 Setting expectations about the (learning) roadmap with leadership. 14:50 The journey to shorter experiment and insight cycles - “Go fast go alone, go far go together”. 18:00 The importance of managing the scale-up challenge from the beginning of the process - from innovation accounting to standard financial accounting. 20:15 On the need for a learning organisation . 20:50 Measuring teams, reporting on learning and insights. 25:00 Recording insights & knowledge management 32:30 Collaborating and creating a shared vision within large organisations. 37:00 Oliver's biggest secret for how to change the way large organisations innovate. About the Co-host Our guest and co-host Oliver Durrer is a Swiss global citizen with a love for life and learning. Passionate about people, tech, lean innovation and social impact, Oliver is on a mission to empower purpose-driven pioneers to unleash their full potential for impact. He has 15+ years of experience in fostering corporate entrepreneurship, innovation and learning, with large enterprises, SMBs and tech startups across Europe, Southeast Asia and Silicon Valley. Oliver is the founder of SwissLEAP which was set up to help leaders, teams and organizations navigate uncertainty, lead change and innovate with impact to sustainably create shared value. SwissLEAP’s signature Lasting Enterprise Action Practices (“LEAP”) combines the business excellence and stability of successful enterprises with the speed, learning and innovation capabilities of lean startups. Oliver holds an lic. oec. in Business Management from Lausanne University. He is a certified lean innovation coach, trained market opportunity navigator and lecturer of innovation and intrapreneurship at HWZ Business School Zurich’s Executive MBA in Digital Leadership. A fan of foreign cultures and languages, Oliver enjoys connecting with people in (Swiss-)German, English, French, Italian & Spanish. Connect with Oliver Website / LinkedIn / Twitter / Email…

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