Everyone seems to know how to do a SWOT when you are developing a strategy.
In case you have not come across it a SWOT stands for:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities &
Threats
It is a good, simple framework to articulate the ‘current situation or where we are today’.
This can also be used to develop an innovation strategy.
Try considering an Innovation SWOT.
In this exercise you generate a SWOT purely based on innovation.
For example:
An innovation strength might be the quality of your brands of products (i.e. it makes it easier to leverage off a strong brand).
An innovation weakness could be the lack of openness to new ideas or taking risks within the organisation’s culture.
An innovation opportunity might be to run an open ideas competition with employees, partners or suppliers.
And finally an innovation threat could be the lack of resources (e.g. money) which precludes any future testing or development.
Using a SWOT in this way is an effective framework or tool to outline exactly where a team or organisation stands in its innovation journey.