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Dear ,
A new season with lots of opportunities.
In this newsletter, we include contributions from two practitioners with free advice and inspiration.
The changing of the seasons offers the occasion for pro-Actuate to let you know (4x/yr) about - and inspire you on - new developments and pass on some criticisms concerning Innovation Delivery (ID). Of course, we’d love to hear your thoughts and work with you on a new briefing.
NEW OFFICE
pro-Actuate has moved to new offices. Right in the centre of Holland and in the centre of creativity – on the Oude Gracht in Utrecht. Please come and visit us if you are in the neighbourhood and need a bit of a spur or actuation.
Telephone numbers and e-mail addresses remain unchanged.
If you’d like to know more about Innovation Delivery, read the interview with Ton in Management & Literatuur (in Dutch only)
Part of a change in the Dutch Telecommunication Act (2009) is the prohibition of unsolicited commercial e-mails to companies. We work with a select group of regular clients and contacts. You can subscribe to the newsletter on our website and unsubscribe, as always, through the link at the bottom of this newsletter.
 Trainingen in the area of Innovation Delivery is provided by our affiliate
NEW BOOK
Gijs van Wulfen, a colleague specialised on the front-end of innovation, has his succesful book transelated in English. Please mail us for a 35% discount on the retail price.
The book ‘Innovation from the polder’ (Innovatie uit de polder) sheds light on the opportunities and possibilities of innovation. Ton and his two co-authors sought the advice of fifteen innovation experts, including top managers at P&G and DSM, to produce solid recommendations and real examples at different levels that can help provide both organisations and individuals with an insight into how they can help realise growth. |
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Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow
Spring officially starts today. It’s the season that, for us, represents the transition to warmer weather and we see nature’s first signs of new life. It’s a sort of changeover phase with spring adding momentum to the move to warmth and growth. In this news bulletin we deal with the transition from new product idea to successful product introduction and business growth. Three articles aim to inspire you to spur on your innovations.
“Univé Innovates” real case study
By Cock Meerhof, senior manager Innovation at Univé-VGZ-IZA-Trias Insurances
Innovation delivery is an essential part of innovation, and we learned to appreciate this during a recent innovation process. Radical innovation has been taken seriously at Univé Insurances for the past four years. The normal paths we took concerning product development, in this case regarding insurance policies, have been discarded and new business sought, found and developed. Innovation is, after all, only true when a new, creative idea actually gets to market. However, innovation in a company that has risk avoidance in its genes demands a process that provides a level of certainty – and reassurance. Thanks to a new approach (experimenting and developing using short cycles making implementation faster and better with the Flywheel), we were able to gain the confidence of both our internal and external contacts.
Front-end inspiration for innovation delivery professionals
By Gijs van Wulfen, author of ‘Creating Innovative Products & Services’, and founder of the FORTH innovation method.
You may well be familiar with, and use, a Stage-Gate Innovation Process. It offers a blueprint to structure the innovation process and makes a distinction between ‘the fuzzy front end’ and ‘the sticky back end’. However, a fuzzy front end and sticky back end don’t seem to represent the perfect recipe for success. Using my experience at the front end of innovation, I’ve developed three practical, and hopefully inspiring, suggestions for the innovation delivery phase. I call them the 3 C’s, and they stand for Connect, Customer, and Creativity.
The Flywheel Model: better and faster innovation results
A large number of innovation efforts never become successful products or services. Rather than approaching an innovation project from a linear perspective, the process may best be considered as a wheel with a short, fast revolution. This flywheel approach results in a quicker and more sustainable innovation implementation.
In order to realise true innovation, it’s essential to look beyond technical possibilities and the demands of the user. Intensive and frequent evaluation and optimisation of the demands and opportunities are required.
The Flywheel model advocates a short, fast cycle of enrichment. In the space of just a few weeks all the value experts are consulted as to how the idea can best be realised. By applying a number of these short cycles, the innovation has a greater chance of success. The experts, including the final user, are closer in line with each other and this interaction very effectively creates added value. The revolution of the Flywheel is repeated a number of times until it is spinning at full speed and a sustainable realisation of the idea is generated.
Feel free to call us or mail us if you have any questions or comments on this newsletter.
Have a wonderful warm spring with lots of growth power.
Ton Langeler
+31 30 2313214
ton@pro-actuate.com
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