How To Be Innovative- Day 15- Let the Patterns Guide and the Actions Decide

As we move in to week 3 of this course for how to be innovative, we should ask ourselves, how do we separate the good ideas from the bad ones? A very relevant question indeed and the answer is we should pay particular focus on the getting the directions from the patterns in which we identify. These patterns will determine what works and what doesn’t and what can be considered a good idea vs what you would consider a bad idea and then run the experiments to confirm that it makes directional sense.
What is the criteria we should look at to decide whether or not an idea has the potential we are looking for? This is a question that even the most successful companies ask themselves. The key is to break out of the spreadsheet mentality, and ask innovators to create models based on their projected ideas. Perhaps this projection will produce a number value or ROI. The higher the number then the most sensible conclusion is the greater the chance management will take the idea forward.This approach is reasonable enough to compare projects with a high degree of certainty. Having said that, you can believe the assumptions in your analysis on your spreadsheet, but when it comes to innovation, particularly when you are trying to achieve something that has not been done before, these numbers can be deceiving.So how can we do this?Firstly, identify three of the most innovative moments in your life is there a connection between these moments are there any patterns you can identify?Talk to friends and family about a great idea that was killed because the numbers didn’t stack up to your expectations. Is it simply something that could be done slightly differently?Observe your financial projections with your companies last five major innovations to the actual results in which they achieved.See how well two successes and two failures compare to answer the list of questions that we ask entrepreneurs. Do you see irregularities or have you had any epiphanies in which you realise there are things you have missed?