Innovation Metrics - Which Ones Are Best To Use?

Paul Sloane recently posted on his BQF blog an article detailing the outcomes of a recent Global Business Partnership Alliance meeting where members reflected on which innovation metrics have been found to be most useful by members.

Some of the key points raised by the group were that:

• Many of the common innovation metrics such as "% of revenue from products released in the last two years" are "lag" indicators after the event, and "lead" indicators are needed

• It is useful to draw flow-chart diagrams of the innovation approval and pipeline processes and ask some searching questions about this - and relate metrics to the stages
  

The group suggested the following metrics may be particularly useful:

Input metrics:

• Number of ideas generated
• Resources allocated to innovation - people and budget

Process metrics:

• Average time from idea approval to implementation
• Number of ideas approved and number implemented
• Stage-gate pass rates
• Value of the innovation pipeline

Output metrics:

• Number of new products or services launched
• Revenue from new products or services
• ROI on innovation spend
• Market Perception
• Number of new customers