An organization's ability to innovate and create value is inseparable from its overall purpose. Ideally, they should include all their stakeholders in the equation, taking into account the impact of their activities on their environment (ecosystem). Nor should we overlook the spiritual dimension of the value chain: as a manifestation of our creativity, innovation can indeed be considered one of the noblest of human functions.

• Remember that your objective is to create value. Before thinking in terms of innovations, try to identify your customers: what are their activities, their concerns (e.g. unnecessary costs, unpleasant experiences, unwanted risks...), their aspirations, etc. In short, think about what would make them happy. In short, think about what would make them happy. Don't forget to keep coming back, with your team, to this question: how will what we're doing right now create more value for all our stakeholders?
• Link your development initiatives to the organization's purpose and strategy. Strive to keep the big picture in mind. Regularly remind teams that their efforts are in the overall interests of the organization, and will make a difference to the end customer.
• Use a variety of tools and methodologies to stimulate team creativity. During the ideation phase, brainstorming and free association techniques are recommended. Then, you can use a more structured approach - typically the Business Model Canvas developed by Alex Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur - to map out value creation in line with your stakeholders' needs.
• Use a prototyping technique to quickly launch new products, accumulate experience and collect data that can be used for improvement. For example, I recommend Eric Ries' Lean Startup model, based on a build-measure-learn feedback loop. You can use it to test new products or services at this early stage; it will enable you to verify the soundness of your investments.
• Allocate available resources appropriately. Assess your assets (human and financial) and use them intelligently to serve your strategy. Balance risk and potential returns. On this point, many organizations rely on the 70-20-10 rule, according to which resources should be allocated as follows: 70% to core activities, 20% to ancillary initiatives and 10% to the business itself.

• Thinking that innovation stops at new products. In his book Ten Types of Innovation, Larry Keeley and his colleagues show how inventiveness and value creation in general branch out into varied and interdependent areas (such as the supply chain).
• Rely exclusively on the R&D department to generate innovative ideas. It's better to rely on interdisciplinary teams from various sectors that can influence the customer experience (e.g. products, services, sales, marketing and logistics).
• Create a culture that encourages "playing small" or punishes failure. It's extremely difficult to find an example of an organizational or business project that hasn't encountered a single obstacle. Unfortunately, initiatives that "fail" are often the subject of negative comment. As a result, people hold back. Some even fear for their careers.
• Asking teams to come up with ideas, without planning to put them into practice. This is the best way to end up with a slew of projects that will never come to fruition. Needless to say, it's demotivating. Cynicism rears its ugly head.
• Believe that innovative ideas are the exclusive fruit of cognition, forgetting the role of intuition and experimentation. Generally speaking, organizations should take a greater interest in creativity (both individual and collective) and provide people with the necessary support (space, equipment, materials, etc.). Most innovations are not born in a meeting room. Practical experimentation is a much better breeding ground.
• Base your entire innovation strategy on customer feedback. The opinions of the people who buy your products or services are obviously valuable. But it should be balanced with your own perceptions and knowledge. Dealing with hundreds of comments is bound to slow you down, even though you undoubtedly have good ideas to feed your innovation process!