We've updated the draft I posted last week of our most recent white paper, What Drives Innovation? A Heuristic Framework for Corporate Innovation. It's the same paper I wrote about here, (and in fact the link to the paper is the same) -- it's just an updated version.

These are the updates we made based on comments sent by those who read the draft I posted last week:

We've made it clear that the heuristic framework for innovation that we put forward in the paper can be used not just at the beginning of the innovation process. That's certainly when you'd need it, but you could also loop back through the questions in the framework at any point in the process that you needed to clarify direction and/or lynchpin drivers.

Also, we included more specific examples of the kinds of questions you would ask at each of the question points in the framework. For reference, these are our heuristic innovation framework questions, and the kinds of questions they might lead to:

• Does the innovation fit the organization?

Questions that can be asked here might be: Does it leverage our core competencies? Is it aligned with the mission and vision? Does the current organizational structure work? Is there a cultural fit?

• Does the innovation provide a strategic advantage?

Questions that can be asked here might be: Does it help us achieve our goals and objectives (revenue, market share, brand presence, operational efficiencies, etc.)? Does it impact the competitive landscape? Does it shift the customer base?

• Is there a demand for the innovation?

Questions that can be asked here might be: Will it address an underserved market? Is it an “up-market” product? Will it meet a stated need? Will it meet an unstated need? What will the adoption curve look like?

• How might we pursue the innovation?

Questions that can be asked here might be: Can we build it ourselves? Do we need to partner with some other company in order to produce it?

• Is there a clear definition of the innovation’s success?

Questions that can be asked here might be: How do we measure this innovation’s value? Do we use our current metrics and measurements? Do we need to create new metrics?

• Will management support the innovation?

Questions that can be asked here might be: Are we capable of making these changes? Are we willing to make these changes? What roadblocks might there be? Is it worth the effort? What needs to be done to gain support?