Employees and consultants provide valuable insights, but how do you innovate what you can't see?
Cortland taps into idea sources that an enterprise doesn't traditionally work with. Through Cortland's global network, an enterprise has access to solutions that address the problem more quickly and efficiently.
According to a recent report from CB Insights, 60% of companies said it takes a year or longer to create new products. Corporate propensity for building over partnering or buying slows down innovation.
So why do companies insist on building over partnering? Organizations use innovation as a way to inspire employees to think creatively about the problems they face. The challenge with this strategy is that it causes an emotional attachment to ideas rather than a constant iterative process. While employees are often the ones closest to the problem, the solution may be furthest away.
Incremental innovation is common for most organizations due to types of problems being solved. While they may recognize a problem quarter after quarter, what they do not recognize is the need for a disruptive change. Other outside sources of innovation are required for an organization to truly benefit from a comprehensive and diverse source of ideas.
According to the same report, the sources of innovation in which there is the least amount of focus are accelerators & incubators, corporate venture capital and external ideation consultants. These sources are the least capital intensive and yet the most fruitful for new ideas.
For more on the state of innovation, click here.
According to The Global Accelerator Report 2016, there are over 500 accelerators worldwide working with over 11,000 innovative startups. Cortland works with most of these accelerators and can find a solution that is already working to solve your problem, albeit on a much smaller scale.
Depending on the scope of the problem, Cortland has a matrix of ideation consultants ready to work to address your businesses challenges. Cortland has ideation consultants that specialize in charity, consumer products, energy, entertainment, finance, government, health and wellness, real estate, technology and transportation.
Our scope of expertise encompasses blockchain to drone pilots, artificial intelligence to visual artists. These emerging technologies are be applied to traditional business models to find new ways to conduct business.
Would you go to New York for energy innovation and Houston for media innovation? Geography has a major impact on the type of innovation found in that region. Certain hubs stand out; New York, Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv and Berlin. Cortland has worldwide representation to take advantage of specialized innovation found in specific regions.
Under special circumstances, it may be of benefit to buy a patent or company early in the development cycle while still letting them grow independently. This ensures first-looks at new technology while preventing competition gaining valuable insights.
When you think of innovative companies, Google and Intel are at the top of the list. While their original innovations came from within, Google Ventures and Intel Capital has led both to be a few of the most innovative companies in the world. Setting up a venture capital arm of your organization is within reach and can yield tremendous benefits. According to CB Insights, in 2017, there were 186 new CVCs, up 66% from the prior year.
Startup founders are a different breed of entrepreneur. They take immense risk both personally and professionally to make dramatic disruptive change. The other side of the equation is partnering with customers to get to scale. The network of founders is one that Cortland finds to be incredibly valuable when sourcing innovative ideas.
Venture capitalists are always looking to inject business development opportunities into their portfolios. Knowing these investors is essential to having access to the innovation pipeline that is being built but not typically seen publicly.
“The enterprise that does not innovate ages and declines. And in a period of rapid change such as the present, the decline will be fast.”
Identify problems and ideas that should be discussed and explored. Full review of input from stakeholders and thought leaders.
Discuss potential solutions with internal team members, external customers and/or suppliers.
After reviewing all of the information, we look to prioritize solutions based upon factors such as feasibility, cost, time and impact.
Capture data as soon as possible by building a minimum viable product to test in a limited setting. Report findings for future decision making.
Launch the product into your existing workflow and work to refine and enhance the innovation until it is ready for scale.
Roll out the product to a larger audience and integrate into new and existing work flows and customers.
