Why brainstorming is overrated and innovation should be boring

Brainstorming sessions often result in an exhausting list of ideas that takes months to vet, delaying projects and blowing budgets. This article emphasizes that creativity is not enough for success in innovation. The whole point of innovation is providing something the customer needs, and that requires generating relevant data, consistently and in detail. To achieve this, Outcome-Driven Innovation (ODI), a scientific and data-driven process designed by Tony Ulwick, the founder of Strategyn, has an 86% success rate in developing new products that meet unmet customer needs. The approach applies Six Sigma principles to the innovation process resulting in predictable success and profitability. Innovation needs to be treated as a real business function with process, rules, metrics, data and performance standards.