3.1 Sources of ideas

In this section you will think about possible sources of ideas and innovations for your business. Even if you already have a business idea, this section will help you better describe the context of your innovation

Peter Drucker suggested ‘Seven Sources of Innovative Opportunity’ (Drucker, 2002), as represented in Figure 12.

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Figure 12 Sources of innovation

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This is a diagram of the two sources of innovation: internal and external.

Examples of internal innovation include: an unexpected happening, a need for improvement in a process, an incongruity happening and changes in industry structure.

Examples of external innovation include: demographic trends, new knowledge, changes in perceptions and meanings.

Figure 12 Sources of innovation

There are four internal sources:

• An unexpected happening – an unexpected situation such as a particular experiment or even a life event enabling the development of a new idea.

  Example: The discovery of Post-it adhesive was something unexpected: read more about it here [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

• An incongruity – incongruities arise from the mismatch between expectations (what it should be) and reality (what it is).

  Example: how negative customer feedback can give you some possible insights on new ideas.

• A need for improvement in a process – it relates to some process that could be improved in terms of efficacy (reaching its goals) and/or efficiency (improving the use of resources and time).

  Example: the efficiency introduced by online booking of flights.

• Changes in industry structure – the external context changes thus requiring internal changes to a project approach.

  Example: new rules and regulations are introduced.

Three sources are located outside a company or industry:

• Demographic trends – evolution of demographic characteristics of the population in the relevant area.

  Example: changes in customer needs due to ageing.

• Changes in perceptions and meanings – changes in what customers value more.

  Example: the greater attention to zero carbon emission and to the possibility of recycling products is an important trend in current stakeholders’ perceptions.

• New knowledge – ‘scientific, technical, or social’ discoveries would be a good source of innovation when translated into new technologies, products and services.

  Example: the development of the Turing machine.

Now you have looked at where your idea may stem from, you will look to identify your business idea.