How to learn from innovation programs
Hi Reader
When we’re faced with a lot of unknowns, new technologies and shifting landscapes, taking an innovation approach is an excellent way to explore options that we won’t get to with traditional planning - and how we can get there from our current position.
In software - as in most industries - every program we run is going to run into obstacles.
And innovation programs should face the highest count of them.
As we go through the innovation process, we’ll discover new insights about our customers, their budgets, and the industry ecosystem, then formulate some good ideas to test out.
‘What doesn’t work’ is important data
When we take our ideas into testing, we’ll hit a number of limitations.
Feedback that ‘it didn’t work’ and ‘we can’t do that’ can feel disheartening — and risks us abandoning the program early.
But if we take these one step further, to harvest the learning, this is where real insight comes in — and after all, that’s what we’re looking for in an innovation program.
The opportunity to explore a new pathway
Every point that tells you that one route is not possible, is valuable data to add to the organization’s knowledge bank.
If we still see value, we can unpack the challenges in search of innovative ways to resolve them. If not, we can use the information to approach the problem differently in future.
So we know more things that don’t work. But does that really help us?
Yes! Here what we can learn from a few of the obstacles we’re likely to encounter:
📊 Data Structure
A really common challenge in tech innovation is that our data structures don’t fit our new concept. Why would they? They were designed to meet other business objectives. Once we know what new elements our data structures need, we can feed this in as part of the work.
➤ We’ve learnt a valuable part of the design for the solution.
⭒ Data changes are standard fare for any new tech adoption, and taking them on board from the start will definitely help to smooth the process.
🤖 Tech limitations
If the tech we’re experimenting with doesn’t do something we had hoped it would, it’s really valuable to learn this early.
It could lead to a no-go call on the project - saving valuable time and allowing us to explore other options instead - or it may help us to shift our project focus, to work with what is possible at the moment.
➤ We’ll either save money, or find a more feasible solution.
➤ We’ve learnt which tech investments are unlikely to give us the return we need.
🚧 Internal barriers
Usually when we try to build something new, we come up against inter-departmental needs or policies that weren’t visible or relevant to us before - naturally, as the work is new to us.
If our project or outcomes don’t align with a policy: is the policy still relevant? Could it be amended, or could our approach be adjusted?
➤ We’ve learnt about the organization structure and needs, and changes we may need to implement.
🛡️ Ethical and governance limitations
We need to keep ourselves, our organization and our customers safe whenever we introduce change. Does the idea or the tech clash with any of our core ethics, vision and values? Might the project have unintended consequences, and might it disadvantage some groups? What approaches can we explore that fit everyone? And what options do we have for adjusting our project to ensure we comply with industry regulation?
➤ We’ve learnt how to design a solution in a way that can protect ourselves and our customers, save us from reputational damage, and build a trusted brand.
Decision making power: “Given what we now know”
With all this information, we are now able to ask real questions about our next steps:
- Which opportunities make sense to explore?
- What returns can we reasonably aim for?
- How can we measure if we’re on track to meet our objectives?
Once we have data from our first experiments, we are truly empowered to make decisions relevant to the customers we serve.
Innovation programs help us to make informed decisions when there’s no other way to know. And we short-change ourselves if we expect them to succeed without obstacle.
When we take the time to learn from what hasn’t worked, as well as what has, then innovation programs actually become a risk-mitigating strategy, enabling us to step out of our comfort zone, see our industry in a new light, and discover the unique solutions our organization is poised to deliver.
If you’d like to know more about the innovation journey, or you’re looking for more innovation resources for yourself or your team, get in touch!
