Underlying Principles:
an overview

We classify the Building Blocks into two parts: the “Core” and the “Frontier.” Each consists of important principles that are fundamental in starting and speeding up your innovation journey.

The Core

The Core is comprised of three blocks defining and establishing the foundations of innovative endeavors. These foundations must be “right” from the start because they will affect everything that is built upon them in the innovation process. If the Core is not strong, the rest of the framework will not withstand the external challenges of innovation.

Block 1: make space for new ideas

• Principle 1: focus your innovation efforts by including those who are ready to step up

• Principle 2: create space for the people working on innovation

• Principle 3: build trust among the people involved in innovation through organizational design

Block 2: promote guided vagueness

• Principle 1: establish guidance while keeping some lack of structure

• Principle 2: help people (who may collaborate anyway) collaborate prolifically

• Principle 3: have your focus firmly set on objectives and avoid rigid KPIs

Block 3: build momentum

• Principle 1: accept that innovation is cumulative and you might only recognize it ex post facto

• Principle 2: focus on learning through rapid validation

• Principle 3: proactively tap into experience from past failures

The Frontier

The Core is at the center of your innovation journey if you are to set yourself up for success. But to substantially increase your chances for success, the Core building blocks of innovation are not sufficient. This is where the Frontier comes in. It, too, consists of three blocks that interact with internal stakeholders (think senior leadership) as well as the broader environment. The actions within these blocks cannot be completed without a boost from the respective internal blocks surrounding the Core.

Block 4: sense the world

• Principle 1: create and explore intersections, because that’s where innovation happens

• Principle 2: don’t imitate your competitors unless you want to fall behind

• Principle 3: encourage co-creation to evolve ideas

Block 5: extract meanings

• Principle 1: stay close to your customers, but not too close

• Principle 2: create new meanings for your customers, not just new value

• Principle 3: hire for passion, not just skills or knowledge

Block 6: generate consensus

• Principle 1: accept the limits of ingrained practices such as brainstorming

• Principle 2: cultivate serendipity

• Principle 3: make selling an idea a critical part of the task, not an afterthought