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INNOVATIONTOOLS: s-u
Innovation Tools
As someone working or studying in the field of innovation, you probably already know that there exists a wealth of tools and techniques to help you find your way through the innovation maze.
SCAMPER
A tool to help creative thinking.
​Selection approaches for radical innovation
This report describes the challenges of selection in the case of radical innovation – and some of the tools which organisations use to deal with it.
Six Thinking Hats
A tool for understanding and incorporating different approaches to problem solving.
Scenarios
A tool for exploring possible futures, incorporating potential critical events which might result in divergent paths or branches being pursued.
Seeing with New Eyes
An approach which tries to take a fresh look at something, bypassing the pattern recognition and seeing the issue with a different perspective.
Social Business Model Canvas
A tool to support social innovators by designing their Business Models. Social Businesses focus on the impact they create for beneficiaries rather than creating profits. Therefore, the tool takes additional aspects into account which helps in creating a social business model.
Soft Systems Analysis (Methodology)
An approach to working with complex problems which have multiple interacting elements – social, technological, political, etc.
Serious Play
This is a tool which emerged from attempts to use Lego bricks and other elements as part of management training workshops.
Storytelling
A resource for understanding how storytelling can be useful for understanding innovation and entrepreneurship.
SMART goals
An approach to goal setting for innovation projects. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely.
Six Sigma
A tool for measuring how many “defects” you have in a process, so you can systematically figure out how to eliminate them and get as close to “zero defects” as possible.
SPOTS Assessment Questionnaire
An abridged version of the SPOTS Diagnostic questionnaire.
Stage gate models for managing uncertainty
Powerful methodology originally developed by Robert Cooper and widely used to handle uncertainty in implementing innovation projects
​Teambuilding
A tool for understanding various categories of roles within a team.
SWOT Analysis
A simple, structured way of exploring the key challenges facing an organisation.
Systems mapping for innovation
Tool to help understand the interconnections between different levels of innovation and the need to assemble complementary innovation assets to work at a systems level.
Target costing
This “tool” involves the application of a suite of techniques aimed at product development.
The decision matrix
A simple tool which can be used to help in the process of strategic choice is a decision matrix.
Team working
Although theam working is increasingly important, we should not assume that simply gopuping people together makes them into a team.
Technological Forecasting
A tool for investigating new trends, radically new technologies, and new forces which could arise from the interplay of factors such as new public concerns, national policies and scientific discoveries.
Ten types of innovation
A framework for exploring innovation space and identifying potential directions and opportunities
The 5 Forces Competitiveness Map
This is a simple map that represents the competitive strategic battlefield in terms of five forces that interact to shape the challenges for firms
The Arthur D. Little (ADL) Matrix
A tool for grouping technological knowledge into four key groups – base, key, emerging and pacing.
Torrance tests for creative thinking
A widely-used set of tests for exploring thinking styles in creativity, originally developed by Ellis Torrance.
TRIZ
A suite of creative thinking tools which help explore in systematic fashion a wide range of problems and potential solutions.
You can find useful case examples, application tips and helpful background via this News letter from Oxford Creativity, experienced TRIZ tariners and practitioners
Three position technique
This tool helps develop empathy and improve understanding of different perspectives on a situation.
Uses for
This is a simple ‘ice-breaker’ exercise which focuses attention on creativity and particularly the power of groups in idea generation.
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