1 Are you are doing the right projects? The global business Screening for project innovation value Innovation is how companies stay ahead of their competition; this means that landscape is littered successfully executing innovative projects will drive competitive advantage. However, with companies whose just successful execution is insufficient — first, organizations must identify and choose competition innovated the right projects in which to invest. The strategic leadership of innovation is not a natural activity for executives focused on them out of existence. managing a business. Financial reporting pressure, budgeting processes, customer and investor relations and risk-averse decision-making all contribute to a slow realization of potentially disruptive innovation in the organization. The key in helping executives identify project potential and then to enable them to nurture the most valuable and innovative programs is to have the right processes and tools in place to efficiently sift through all the project ideas in a consistent manner, in order to predict which projects are most likely to be successful. Additionally, resources will be better leveraged by concentrating efforts on the project ideas that are most important to the business. An effective screening of innovative project ideas requires a balanced analysis that can Idea screening analysis be performed efficiently, consistently and at the earliest possible time, i.e., prior to expending effort on a detailed “return-on-investment” (ROI) review or analysis. In this Project A way, resources are better focused and can be allocated to the project ideas with the 50 greatest merit. Inserting a pre-portfolio screening process that enables a balanced 25 management criteria is essential to the portfolio governance process. 1 EY has found that leveraging a concept called “inventive merit” provides an efficient 0 and effective screening for innovation ideas as a front-end to the portfolio management process. This analysis provides a balanced view that measures not only the quality and –25 Overall inventive merit Negative balance significance of the idea itself, but puts it into a larger context enabling a more informed decision process prior to the business case being developed. –50 Measuring inventive merit entails the examination of four areas: inventive concept, Inventive Embodiment Operational Market concept merit practice dynamics embodiment merit, operational practice and market dynamics. By having a balanced Project B view on the merits of a project idea across these four dimensions, companies can 50 prevent appealing projects with a low overall likelihood of success from being accepted, and avoid rejecting projects that are evaluated by only a single dimension but which 25 Overall inventive merit have a high inventive merit. Positive balance In practice, using project inventive merit screening process involves each team measuring 0 and mapping their project idea across these four dimensions. The result visually depicts the unique value dynamic for each potential project. In this manner, both sponsoring –25 teams and management have an early and more effective decision criteria prior to –50 investing resources in ROI and business case development. Inventive Embodiment Operational Market concept merit practice dynamics The diagrams illustrate the concept of balanced inventive merit screening. 1. This concept is based on George R. White’s research on “Management Criteria for Effective Innovation.” 4 | Unlocking the value of your program investments