I recently participated in an insightful session which focused on the essential elements of an innovation challenge. An innovation challenge is the statement and criteria which drive an innovation effort. It turns out that, without a well-constructed challenge, one which takes into consideration all of the dynamics of the requirement, the innovation results produced, if any, can seriously miss the mark. Who would have “thunk”?

The speaker nicely packaged the key learnings into eight bite sized chunks of practical and actionable advice, which I thought was worth sharing with our readers. Because these apply across so many different challenge areas, the utility imbedded in these key points applies almost universally.

• Key point #1 – Define Your Success Factors. Be clear in what success would look like.
• Key point #2 – Align to Business Objectives. Ensure you are able to create direct impact on a business goal.
• Key point #3 – Determine Priority. Understand the importance of the opportunity against everything else.
• Key point #4 – Obtain Sponsorship. Is there a clear sponsor that has the burning problem?
• Key point #5 – Communicate Vertically and Horizontally. Reach outside of the inner circle. Explore alternate mediums to communicate efficiently (meetings and email don’t work for all)
• Key point #6 – Assess Relevance to the Audience. Is this a compelling and relevant opportunity for the audience you’re addressing?
• Key point #7 – Offer Proper Incentives. Create targeted incentives which appeal to the specific audience.
• Key point #8 – Act and Implement. Then act and implement some more. Results are key. Focus on quick wins.

And I would add an additional 9^th point, which is to understand your funding and potential barriers PRIOR to beginning the ideation cycle and innovation challenge.