When doing any kind of business, chances are that, sooner or later, you will be faced with the need to innovate. When this happens, you will venture into new, unpredictable and risky territory. Even though this is a natural part of business innovation, it can feel somewhat uncomfortable. One way of mitigating this is by understanding your next step(s). You want to have an overview of the entire process and understand where you are in it.

Keep in mind that innovation does not always have to be radical. The groundbreaking ‘never seen before’ things that end up on the news more often than not are the result of someone encountering the right circumstances and being smart enough to act quickly. If you see an opportunity like that, go for it.

Innovation process: 4-phase approach

We’ve defined a four-phase digital innovation approach that will turn your innovations-on-paper into tangible solutions that get results. This model distinguishes four phases: Explore, Prove, Scale and Normalize.

It’s important to know which phase you’re currently in and to see if you followed all the steps that come with it. If you skip a step or don’t know in which phase you are, it can cause you to act provisionally or might cause you to go back to the drawing board all the time. With this approach, you’ll have control, you’ll be able to validate if you’re on the right track, and you make sure you plan for the future.

To know if you’ve successfully completed each phase we’ve created a practical business innovation checklist. Want to be more thorough? Please download our full handbook “Take Control of Your Digital Innovation: 4-phase approach”.

Business Innovation Checklist

Has your digital innovation checked all the boxes of our Innovation Checklist? See for yourself.

1. Explore

• Do you truly understand the problem your idea is solving? Describe it in one sentence.
• Did your prototype meet users expectations? Make adjustments if necessary.
• Do you have a clear picture of the total Business Innovation Concept?
• Can you make a positive business case for the idea, taking all costs into account?
• Do you have an elevator pitch that tells the story both in words and visual? Make sure to include important stakeholders already in creating your pitch.

2. Prove

• Did you do all the preparation of what we call Track 0: Design Vision, Tech Vision, Collaboration Vision, and Scope?
• Is your company ready to launch the product (operational, business processes, training people)?
• Do you have a team and resources in place to measure (quantitative and qualitative) success and do quick fixes and iterations?
• Do you have a clear understanding of your target audience and where you want to scale?

3. Scale

• Did you map out the ecosystem where and how you want to scale?
• Is your technical infrastructure ready for growth?
• Do you have a clear governance and guidelines in place for your team to operate?
• Are your core systems ready to implement the new product or service and are you able to track its success on a large scale?
• Are you able to create a functional strategy to improve workflows and processes?

4. Normalize

• Do you have a solid recurring research and decision making process in place?
• Do you have technical and organizational resources in place to constantly optimize and
• keep an innovative mindset?
• Do you have the right capabilities and people in house to manage the process yourself?
• Does your team have an innovative mindset to proactively look for the next innovation?