Based on two years of research, we found that there are ten keys to innovation that the most innovative companies use to systematically drive their successful performance, causing them to outperform the competition by 12 times. These "keys" are aspects or dimensions of the business that executive teams focus on and either manage differently or with excellence.

1. T O P 1 0 K E Y S T O I N N O V A T I O N S U C C E S S
T H E B E S T C O M P A N I E S U S E
P I V O T A L I N N O V A T I O N

2. T H E T O P 2 5 % O F I N N O V A T O R S
O U T P E R F O R M T H E B O T T O M
2 5 % B Y 1 2 T I M E S
S o u r c e : P D M A

3. This means, on average for every
dollar invested in R&D, a top
innovator delivers $39 of new
revenue where a bottom innovator
delivers only $3.30.
S o u r c e : P D M A

4. H O W D O T H E Y D O I T ?
Successful executive teams
systematically leverage ten key aspects
of their business to drive their
innovation performance. They do this
differently and better than teams at
other companies.

5. 1 . G O V E R N A N C E

6. A holistic directional
framework for
inspiring, steering and
sustaining innovation.
Most companies don’t
have any innovation
governance at all. The
top innovators do.
G O V E R N A N C E

7. 2 . S T R A T E G Y

8. S T R A T E G Y
A clearly defined strategy that is also
innovative empowers the organization
to obtain the purpose through the
mission. Strategic plans from great
companies are distinctly different from
the rest.

9. 3 . O R G A N I Z A T I O N

10. O R G A N I Z A T I O N
An innovative organization is
structured to rapidly and flexibly
develop and execute innovation
opportunities, while empowering
dynamic teams focused on the effort
irrespective of functions.

11. “We assume that technologies and
technological capabilities have no
boundaries or barriers. Any product or
manufacturing technology is available to
any business in any industry in any
geography around the world.”
- 3M

12. 4 . R E S O U R C E S

13. R E S O U R C E S
Resources are all of the
assets, including people,
cash, and property that
are required to advance
innovation efforts. For
innovation, the focus
needs to be on people
resources and how to
innovate from within
through learning.
1
3

14. 5 . I D E A S

15. A systems approach to idea generation,
synthesis, decision support and design
advancement needs to be in place. By
systems approach, we mean that top
companies use a superior scientific
methodology to transform ideas into value.
IDEAS

16. 6 . I N I T I A T I V E S

17. Initiatives are
actionable tasks or
projects. A strategic
thrust may take years to
attain, whereas an
initiative may take
days, weeks or months.
Top innovators manage
and drive multiple
initiatives to advance
performance on each
innovation objective.
I N I T I A T I V E S

18. 7 . M E T H O D S

19. M E T H O D S
Techniques that empower team members to
accomplish work with higher value, quality
and speed (e.g. contextual interviewing, jobs-
to-be-done or ethnography to gain better
customer insight).

20. 8 . C O L L A B O R A T I O N

21. C O L L A B O R A T I O N
Innovation is most
successful with wide
scale collaboration
working within and
across teams, across
the entire organization,
and with external
resources.
3

22. 9 . L E A R N I N G

23. L E A R N I N G
Great innovators invest the time and
resources necessary to ingrain
education in the natural innovation
process.

24. 1 0 . P E R F O R M A N C E

25. Running innovation
performance
management on a
cadence similar to
financial review
rhythms significantly
changes the game.
P E R F O R M A N C E

26. A M O V E M E N T
Profitable innovation is next to impossible without these key factors in place.
By systematizing innovation and running innovation using a disciplined approach,
top companies are outpacing the competition. If you employ a haphazard
approach to innovation and are expecting a “eureka” breakthrough moment for
your next big product or service, sadly, you will be disappointed with the results.
C O N C L U S I O N

27. W A N T T O L E A R N M O R E ?

28. pivotalinnovation.com
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