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Choose the problem before the solution
Describe who experiences the problem, when it occurs and what it costs in time, effort or lost opportunity. Use customer conversations and operating evidence to check that the problem matters. A new tool or product idea is not yet a reason to change the business.
Our growth opportunity assessment can help compare the idea with other uses of limited resources.
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Compare different kinds of change
The response might be a product, service, process or business-model change. Consider whether a simpler adjustment would solve the problem before choosing the most ambitious option. Identify the capabilities, investment and dependencies each option introduces.
Keep customer value and commercial value connected. A popular idea may still require a delivery model the business cannot sustain.
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Write a bounded experiment
State the hypothesis and the evidence that would support or challenge it. Set a limited scope, responsible person, budget boundary and review point. Decide beforehand what would lead to continuing, changing or stopping the test.
A development brief can help when the uncertainty concerns a new customer or route to market. Protect the normal operation from a test that grows without a decision.
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Interpret the result before scaling
Look at what actually happened, including unexpected behaviour and operating effort. Separate evidence about the problem from evidence about the proposed solution. A small test can expose an assumption without proving the whole business case.
If the change affects many parts of the organisation, use the transformation roadmap to plan the wider work deliberately.
Use this in your business
An innovation experiment brief
| Field | Prompt |
|---|---|
| Problem | Who experiences it and what evidence shows it matters? |
| Hypothesis | What do we expect this change to improve? |
| Test | What is the smallest useful way to learn? |
| Boundary | Scope, resources, owner and end point. |
| Evidence | What will we observe, including delivery effort? |
| Decision | What would make us continue, adapt or stop? |
A practical example
Test the bottleneck before buying the system
A hypothetical business struggling with delayed handovers might test a clearer scheduling process with one team before buying new software. If the test shows that missing information is the main cause, the eventual solution can address that need directly. The experiment reduces uncertainty rather than serving as a demonstration of a decision already made.
Your next move
Discuss which change is worth testing
Bring the problem and the change you are considering. We can help design a useful test and connect the result with the investment decision.
Discuss which change is worth testing