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Sylphium Consulting LLC
Innovation & strategy for agri-tech
Innovation management
Ideation
The phases of innovation management can be likened to the various physical states of water. First, there is a ‘gaseous phase’ – ebullient colleagues bouncing ideas off one another in a chaotic state of high energy. Rigid processes at this point are often implemented in an effort to weed out ‘false positives’ early. But such processes may tend to dampen enthusiasm, diminishing morale and lead to a culture of self-censorship which in turn impoverishes a company. Hence, a light managerial touch and a tolerance of ambiguity are keys to success.
Proof of concept
Next, after entering some sort of classic ‘stage-gate process’, a select number of promising concepts enter into the ‘liquid phase’. It is time to introduce more discipline and structure, but as many unknowns likely exist at this phase, agility and an iterative approach are most appropriate.
Upscaling
Finally, after proof-of-concept and proof-of-value have been established, an innovation moves to the ‘solid phase’. Here, as issues of manufacturability and scale-up are addressed and design and feature elements frozen, still more rigor and discipline are required to succeed. We have broad experience supporting enterprises develop systems and processes for each of these innovation phases.
