Part 1 of this topic discussed how research* has shown that 85-90% of innovation portfolios are made up of low risk projects. As there's a strong correlation between risk and reward, it is likely therefore that most companies are not maximising the return on their innovation investment.

This may be because the leadership team and the organisational culture are risk-averse.

In part 2, we explain more about the nature of  risk in innovation and suggest more ways to manage it.  When teams are confident at managing risk in innovation, they can get greater rewards on their innovation efforts by including some riskier projects in their portfolio.

If you’re not achieving everything you could be achieving in innovation how would you know?

Perhaps you audit your innovation performance. But how are your competitors or other organisations doing? Would you know if they were out-performing you at innovation? Or would you be surprised if they unleashed a rapid fire series of new launches into your market, wowing your customers and luring them away?

Before this happens, we’ll show you how top performers in innovation keep upping their game.

Do you find that your well-researched and painstakingly developed innovations are rapidly becoming commodities due to your competitors fighting back intensely and from all around your market position?

Perhaps a new competitor has disrupted your market, undercutting prices to levels that barely cover your overheads? Or, perhaps you feel locked into an ‘arms race’ with your competitors, where you are all offering more and more features and relevant benefits, but unit prices are staying the same or even falling?

 If so, you’re suffering from hyper-competition. And if you read on we’ll tell you what you can do about it.

If you consider the role of customer insight in innovation as solely that of a ‘front-end’ activity in preparation for the more visible and tangible invention phase, think again.

Re-appraising insight might be the key to driving even bigger and better innovation success for you and your team.