Planning and innovation go hand-in-hand. Both are critical to achieving business success. As Chinese philosopher Confucius stated, “A man who does not plan long ahead will find trouble at his door.” And Adena Friedman, President and CEO of NASDAQ said, “New products, new markets, new investors, and new ways of doing things are the lifeblood of growth. And while each innovation carries potential risk, businesses that don’t innovate will eventually diminish.”

What is Innovation?

Innovation is the process of conceptualizing and creating new products, new processes, and new ideas. It is finding new ways to accomplish current tasks and new ways to do new things. Innovation is the cornerstone of sustained growth and economic prosperity. Innovation always starts with good planning.

Why are Planning and Innovation Important in Business?

Innovation helps companies:

Grow, becoming stronger and more profitable.
Remain relevant in an ever-changing world.
Differentiate themselves.

Companies should create a culture of planning for innovation because:

Planning and innovative qualities are characteristics of a creative nature and creative development is fundamental to innovation.
Innovation provides continuous improvement and organizational sustainability.
Innovation reinforces the essence of a brand and strengthens a brand’s unique selling proposition.
Innovation responds to competition and important trends. It helps seize opportunities.

The Innovation Process

The innovation process starts with deliberate planning and includes these steps:

This includes research, ideation, brainstorming, and prototyping. The developing team constructs a product or service with basic functionality that can be examined and can be used to secure useful feedback.
Using the basic concept, development will continue including digital design, collaborative tools, manufacturing, and supply chain plans, and more.
This step works to bring the innovation to market.

A structured innovation process creates urgency, increases efficiency and effectiveness, and increases performance.

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