This is what an innovation pipeline looks like —>

Risk and failure are inherent parts of innovation. Gates both decrease and increase risk, depending how judiciously they’re applied. Limiting the number of gates is counterintuitive for many organizations because in a scaled enterprise, control, efficiency, and due diligence traditionally increase the odds of success. However, within an innovation pipeline, too much control inadvertently causes more risk.

<aside> 1️⃣ Philips Experience Design’s Cocreate

Known for its unique method, the Philips Experience Design team states that, “Effective innovation calls for a collaborative design approach that puts people at the center from the very start.” Their process doubles down on that.

Called Cocreate, this human-centered perspective on innovation requires input from a spectrum of collaborators. From patients and consumers to clinicians, they tackle product creation from a holistic understanding.

Under this umbrella, there’s a 4-part process that allows the natural tensions of each step and differing points of view to act as checks and balances. There’s discover, or immersion to understand the context of consumer lives, frame, where challenges & opportunities are identified, ideate, where a range of solutions are offered, and finally build, where prototypes are user-tested.

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Learn more about Philips’s process here.

                            [***Learn more about Philips’s process here.***](<https://www.philips.com/a-w/about/innovation/experience-design/our-approach>)

<aside> 2️⃣ GE’s FastWorks Program

With three major gates, GE FastWorks–a global innovation program built upon Lean Startup principles – lies somewhere in the middle of our framework. Designed to be dispensed into individual business units, it more closely resembles an internal coaching service than a lab:

To access FastWorks, employees pitch their ideas to a Growth Board (existing in each business unit), which approves or rejects potential projects. Once ideas are selected, the team tests and proves their viability through continuous customer interaction.

Once this phase is complete, the board reviews the idea again, this time with an emphasis on creating an inexpensive minimum viable product that will test the fundamental theses. Once approved, more funds are unlocked to build–and continue to test–an MVP. And when built, the team goes through one more round of board approvals before mass production or scale can begin.

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Learn more about GE’s process here.

                                                                                                  *[**Learn more about GE’s process here.**](<http://www.slideshare.net/bmacarolinas/evangelizing-and-leading-the-strategic-role-of-marketing-in-innovation-by-stephen-liguori>)*

<aside> 3️⃣ 3M’s 3-Part Approach

3M’s approach relies, yes, on a 3-part team. Comprised of scouts, entrepreneurs, and implementers, these tripartite working units come together for a project, see it through to completion, and then disband until it’s time to face the next challenge.

Within this construction, there are multiple pathways to innovation, like close market interactions, deep research, and serendipitous discovery. And they’re all based on the belief that anyone within the company has the potential to light the creative spark.

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Learn more about 3M’s process here.

                                                   [***Learn more about 3M’s process here.***](<https://seekingalpha.com/article/4233863-durability-of-innovation-3m>)