Your Innovation Pipeline; Do You Have One?

I have been involved in the development of new Internet/ Digital strategy for traditional publications since late 1999. Over the years I have seen many initiatives come and go, often in the face of the unknown.

It is the unknown factor that has lead many in senior management to take something of a shotgun approach to managing innovation. Now times are different and innovation management is no longer something that can be managed with the luxury of time and a 'come-what-may' attitude.

All around us we see traditional publishing making the move to digital initiatives with a greater and greater degree of urgency. Some see good ideas that are 'out there' and slap together an initiative that resembles what they've seen, hoping for the best. Others will go to the length of developing proper business plans and in doing so, develop the logic behind their plans for the best chance of success.

The companies that survive and thrive in the coming years, however, will be those that go the next step and build a proper innovation pipeline. Why does this make more sense now than ever before? The reason is simple; as many in the industry become increasingly desperate, and feel, perhaps rightly so, that they need to innovate or die. The problem is that those who don't already have several innovations in the works, feel the need to sacrifice planning in order to get as many new initiatives to market as possible.

How does one pick up the pace of innovation and at the same time give each one the consideration it requires in order to maximize the chances of successes, and minimize costly errors and rebuilds? One answer lies in the development of a pipeline; a small team of people who can research, plan, test, re-plan and launch new initiatives. When done properly, an innovation pipeline takes time and money sure, but far less time and money in the medium and long run, to generate real successes. A proper pipeline will have anywhere from 3-5 initiatives running through it (or even more in larger companies), in various stages of development, such that once the first launch comes out of the pipeline, it should be followed by subsequent, properly-planned launches every 2-5 months thereafter.

I am interested in starting a discussion thread with like-minded executives and consultants in this space in order to share experiences and best practices in the development and management of their innovation pipeline. If you don't have one, post your questions, thoughts and ideas. This is an important part of the development of a digital strategy and the time is now, so let's talk!