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The Pentathlon Framework – People & Organisations

2 3 4 1 5
5 > People & organisations
An enterprise culture is one that can manage the
tension between taking risks and minimising
failure as products and services near market.
Read More
2 3 4 1 5 Without risk you cannot have
game-changing innovation
The key to successful innovation is to fail fast at the front-end,
where the impact on the business can be managed.
The Pentathlon Framework can be used to describe a structured process
that removes the risk of failure as ideas progress through the 'Innovation Funnel'.
2 3 4 1 5 1 > Strategy steers innovation
where it is most needed
An innovation strategy guides and influences ideas
selection and implementation, identifying the business priorities
and ensuring senior management buy-in at an early stage.
The strategy may recommend acquisition, a new supply chain or new skills.
Read More
2 3 4 1 5
2 > Ideas Generation
Ideas generation is a response
to problems and challenges.
Read More
2 3 4 1 5 3 > Selection &
prioritisation of ideas
A process is required for the selection and prioritisation
of ideas when incomplete information is available
Read More
2 3 4 1 5 4 > Implementation
of ideas to market
Strong project management skills are needed
to move ideas from conception, through implementation
to market in an environment of high uncertainty.
Read More
THE PENTATHLON FRAMEWORK - click to read more 2 > IDEAS 3 > SELECTION 4 > IMPLEMENTATION 1 > STRATEGY 5 > PEOPLE refresh

To be truly innovative an organisation needs to have a culture that encourages innovation.

There are many theories over how this may be achieved and we outline some of the most interesting ideas.

  1. Organisational structures – aligning to markets is effective provided the strategic business units are given sufficient authority. At a project level autonomous teams can be the best way of progressing radical innovations. Some companies have adopted an ‘innovation manager’ to help drive through change.
  2. Power structures – a strong relationship between manufacturing and R&D can nurture continuous improvement and break down the walls that seem to develop organically.  The risk of poor cross-functional awareness is an ‘over the wall’ mentality where problems are thrown to the ‘other side’ to deal with instead of cooperatively through discussion.
  3. Symbols – recognising innovation and its contribution to the company through displays in the entrance hall, featuring in advertising, positive internal communication – can all promote pride and confidence.
  4. Stories – managers that use stories can communicate effectively and enlightening stories are inspirational.
  5. Routines and rituals – two elements of best practice is promoting new ideas and tolerating mistakes. eg DuPont’s use of the phrase ‘it was a good try’.
  6. Control systems – while new ideas should be encouraged they need to be managed and there are techniques available to manage this.

More tools and techniques for creating a culture of innovation are discussed in the tools section. 

Articles Relating to People & Organisations

Caroline Mattelin-Pierrard

Management Innovation: a processual approach through practices and bundles of practices

  • By rnd-admin
  • on 1 October, 2021

The Covid-19 crisis has stimulated the adoption of a number of managerial innovations, says Caroline Mattelin-Pierrard. She observes that one innovation - 'the liberated company' - provides opportunities for an organisation to develop greater agility.

Read more
Open source hardware development

What motivates makers in open source hardware development?

  • By rnd-admin
  • on 14 January, 2021

"What motivates highly skilled people with closely related daily jobs to contribute to open source hardware projects, in their spare time?" ask researchers J. Piet Hausberg and Sebastian Spaeth

Read more
Museum of Making

Museum of Making shows movement still relevant today

  • By rnd-admin
  • on 14 January, 2021

The world’s first factory, in Derby, UK has been opened as a museum to celebrate the role of the maker as a driver of innovation.

Read more
Lawrence Dooley, University College Cork (photo by Tomas Tyner, UCC )

How to gain private sector funding for discovery science

  • By rnd-admin
  • on 9 November, 2020

A game of chess is how Dr Lawrence Dooley describes the strategy that academic principal investigators (PI) have had to develop to ensure funding for discovery science. He discusses how conflicts in different agenda risks stifling blue-sky research prized...

Read more
Figure 1 The New World Kirkpatrick Model (1994)

Direct coaching supports SMEs with inbound knowledge transfer from university

  • By rnd-admin
  • on 30 September, 2020

Could coaching provide the support that SME's require to improve their innovation activities? In a pilot 10 SMEs were introduced to strategy and technology management tools developed through research and given coaching on applying these tools to their own...

Read more
virtual collaboration

Collaborative innovation in a time of social distancing – 5 things we now know

  • By rnd-admin
  • on 1 May, 2020

Like so many meetings, the IfM’s Open Innovation Forum's March workshop, was hastily reconvened into a virtual event due to the coronavirus crisis. Co-organiser Dominic Oughton, discusses some of the learning points.  

Read more
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