Innovation · Sources of ideas · Component
Source map
The routes by which new ideas can reach the organisation, with who watches each one and what each has produced so far.
The deliverable
What it is
A source map makes visible something that is otherwise assumed: where new ideas actually come from. Written down, it tends to show a few busy routes and several that exist in principle and produce nothing.
It is not a list of every conceivable origin. A source earns a place when someone is named to watch it and its yield can be counted, which is what turns a list into something that can be improved.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
Source
One named origin of ideas — a customer group, a team, a supplier, a research field or an adjacent market.
3 attributes: Source · Source type · Watcher
LearnYield
What the source has produced so far: ideas logged, ideas tested, and ideas that reached ordinary operation.
3 attributes: Ideas logged · Reached operation · Counted over
LearnAccess terms
The terms on which ideas from outside may be used, including who owns what is later developed from them.
3 attributes: Agreement · Counterparty · Ownership position
Learn
A source with no named watcher and no counted yield is a hope. Either assign it or remove it from the map.
The other components in sources of ideas
Search brief
A short written statement of the problems the organisation wants new ideas for, and of what it has decided not to pursue.
LearnIdea log
The single register where every idea is entered, acknowledged and given a first decision, whichever route it arrived by.
Learn