The Innovator's Toolkit

PREFACE xv

INTRODUCTION xvii

P A R T I Define the Opportunity 1

TECHNIQUE 1 Jobs to be Done 3

Highlight the human need you're trying to fulfill

TECHNIQUE 2 Job Mapping 13

Determine how customers are getting jobs done

TECHNIQUE 3 Outcome Expectations 20

Give customers more of what they desire

TECHNIQUE 4 Value Quotient 27

Identify opportunity gaps in the marketplace

TECHNIQUE 5 Ethnography 34

Observe your customers to uncover unarticulated needs

TECHNIQUE 6 Scenario Planning 41

Paint visions of possible change

TECHNIQUE 7 Heuristic Redefinition 49

Draw a picture of your system and its parts to focus ideation

TECHNIQUE 8 Nine Windows 57

Looking at your opportunity through nine different lenses

TECHNIQUE 9 Job Scoping 64

Broaden or narrow your innovation focus

TECHNIQUE 10 Stakeholder Management 68

Get key influencers involved and on your side

TECHNIQUE 11 Cognitive Style 74

Leverage the diversity of your exploiters and explorers

TECHNIQUE 12 Project Charter 82

Keep your innovation team focused and on track

TECHNIQUE 13 Innovation Financial Management 90

Constantly improve your assumption-to-knowledge ratio

P A R T II Discover the Ideas 99

TECHNIQUE 14 Resource Optimization 101

Make sure you use all available resources

TECHNIQUE 15 Functional Analysis 108

Scrutinize your system for innovation

TECHNIQUE 16 Trend Prediction 115

Learn from evolution's genetic code

TECHNIQUE 17 Creative Challenge 125

Sacrifice the sacred cows

TECHNIQUE 18 HIT Matrix 130

Compare existing solutions to spark new breakthroughs

TECHNIQUE 19 SCAMPER 133

Ask eight important questions

TECHNIQUE 20 Brainwriting 6-3-5 137

Encourage equal opportunity ideation

TECHNIQUE 21 Imaginary Brainstorming 140

Get silly for the sake of creativity

TECHNIQUE 22 Concept Tree 144

Leverage current ideas to generate many ideas

TECHNIQUE 23 Random Stimulus 147

Use an unrelated picture or word to spawn new ideas

TECHNIQUE 24 Provocation and Movement 153

Bust through the roadblocks in your thinking

TECHNIQUE 25 Forced Association 159

Hone in on solutions from other industries

TECHNIQUE 26 Structured Abstraction 164

Guide your innovation using 40 proven principles

TECHNIQUE 27 Separation Principles 173

Split your innovation problem in four ways

TECHNIQUE 28 Substance Field Analysis 179

Learn how substances interact with fields to form solutions

TECHNIQUE 29 Biomimicry 189

Seek nature's eons of experience to find answers

TECHNIQUE 30 KJ Method 195

Group and organize ideas by their natural affinities

TECHNIQUE 31 Idea Sorting and Refinement 199

Organize and shape ideas to improve their yield

TECHNIQUE 32 Six Thinking Modes 206

Evaluate your solution ideas in six different ways

P A R T III Develop the Designs 215

TECHNIQUE 33 Functional Requirements 217

Identify what customers want in your solution

TECHNIQUE 34 Axiomatic Design 223

Transform what customers want into the best products and services

TECHNIQUE 35 Function Structure 231

Identify how the solution functions in its whole and its parts

TECHNIQUE 36 Morphological Matrix 236

Generate solution concepts by combining design alternatives

TECHNIQUE 37 TILMAG 241

Pair ideal solution elements to create new design concepts

TECHNIQUE 38 Work Cell Design 245

Configure the workspace for flow and optimization

TECHNIQUE 39 Paired Comparison Analysis 253

Rank design concepts against each other in pairs

TECHNIQUE 40 Pugh