The Sadler’s Wells dance group, which runs three theaters in central London, pursues its innovation in dance through a careful evaluation process.
It scouts for promising dancers, invites them to develop ideas for new productions. The dance company gives them studio space and a small budget to develop an innovative idea and test it.
The next stage: artists, producers and theatre managers evaluate the raw idea in the studio. If they believe it has strong potential, the company gives more money to develop it into a show and it premieres in their smallest theatre. Should the show become a box office success, the company puts it on in their main theatre. This dance company innovation pipeline for selecting new shows is exactly the same as for evaluating ideas for new products and services.
The idea generation process involves coming up with as many ideas as possible. Your ideas need to be “bounded” by some sort of reality right from the start so you don’t come up with junk. This simply means you clearly define what you want to achieve upfront.
Start-up owners and entrepreneurs have a huge advantage over corporate managers that they are not always aware of. The independent businessperson can decide how they will select their most promising ideas. Often the best method is through small-scale tests as the Sadler’s Wells dance company does.
In big companies it’s often the case that the boss decides what’s the best idea even if it doesn’t fit the long term strategy. Or, the delegated managers pick ideas they think will please the higher-ups.
For start-ups and small business owners wanting to avoid biased decisions like this or to prevent themselves falling in love with their own ideas, an objective evaluation system can be effective. Such an evaluation system requires “hoops” through which new ideas have to jump through before they get any cash injection.
You may need to come up with several ideas before you find the one that attracts paying customers. Ditch the dogs. Develop the ones prospective customers will open their wallets and purses for.
I explain the full details on how you can achieve extreme value from your own ideas in my handbook, “Magic Money: The Alchemy of Turning Your Ideas into Gold”, which I’d like to let you access at no charge.
So if you’re interested, get in now… send your email and I’ll give you this handbook free of charge.
