The Language of Innovation
Tony Ulwick
Aug 27, 2009
By Strategyn CEO Tony Ulwick
When building a competency in innovation, a company must adopt the best innovation process and the language that supports it. This primer introduces the terms needed to describe and discuss Strategyn's Outcome-Driven Innovation process. A shared understanding of innovation terminology is the first step in engaging the organization in healthy discussion around what innovation is, how the process should be executed and what approach to adopt.
Unlike other innovation theories, ODI is described with precise language. During our 20 years of experience, we have discovered that within most companies there is a lack of agreement on what innovation is - or what a market or customer need is. If a company can't agree on the definition of these basic terms, it cannot create a competency in innovation.
Starting with key terms such as innovation (Strategyn defines this as the process of devising a product or service concept that addresses the customer’s unmet needs), the paper dicsusses other key terms such as desired outcome, emotional job, functional job, the job map, market growth paths, and the opportunity algorithm. The terms are ordered so that the reader can get a good understanding of how the process is executed. The paper also includes an abridged glossary of terms.
