{"id":143764,"date":"2021-09-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qmarkets.net\/innovation-funnel\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T10:55:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T08:55:03","slug":"innovation-funnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qmarkets.net\/de\/resources\/article\/innovation-funnel\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Your Innovation Funnel Needs an Overhaul: A Step-by-Step Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Traditionally the Innovation funnel<\/a> is a stage-gate process that organizations use to define their approach to ideation. Businesses that adopt this usually start off by narrowing down their challenges, gathering ideas around them, reviewing said ideas, and then implementing them. However, here at Qmarkets we believe that this is only one part of a greater innovation funnel.     <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have created a unique vision of the innovation funnel which incorporates the full spectrum of innovation activity. In this blog, we\u2019ll give you a step-by-step guide to our \u2018Innovation Ecosystem\u2019<\/a>, providing you with multiple ways to discover and manage innovations at your enterprise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Unique Innovation Funnel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Qmarkets‘ Innovation Ecosystem a unique innovation funnel that includes the full spectrum of innovation activities.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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The Qmarkets Innovation Ecosystem is made up of three main phases:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. Front End Discovery. Identify trends, insights, opportunities, and other sources of inspiration that can inform innovation activity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Innovate & Craft. Use varied systems and processes to develop, evaluate, and refine ideas around strategic challenges.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Commercialize. Manage the delivery of promising ideas to generate measurable outcomes and bottom-line results.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Each phase of the innovation funnel is designed to help you tap into multiple sources of inspiration and insight, develop ideas through structured processes, and ultimately manage their delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Now, let\u2019s explore each phase of the innovation funnel and how it can help your organization maximize innovation ROI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Front End Discovery  <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The standard innovation funnel is kicked off with an idea generation phase, yet this does not focus on the strategic inspiration for idea challenges \u2013 these being a specific topic or issue that you wish to ideate around. In our experience, your innovation funnel needs to include ways to constantly supply ideation by generating a steady flow of inspiration to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Trends & External Data Providers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Your company\u2019s innovation infrastructure is not just made up of employees, but external stakeholders too. Monitoring and partnering with external data providers, such as customers, business partners, startups, academia, and expert communities, provides your organizati<\/a>o<\/a>n<\/a> with a steady flow of insights from sources that influence your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    These external insights can strengthen the front end of your innovation funnel. Using them to understand developments and trends within your industry can help your organization identify emerging opportunities and determine which areas deserve further exploration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Analyzing trend data with a trend analysis tool<\/a> can help you assess its relevance to your business and explore potential scenarios in which those trends could have an impact. Your experts, partners, and employees can then build on this information, share their perspectives, and determine which opportunities are viable and potentially rewarding to pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Every relevant insight gives your organization an opportunity to assess its potential business impact and generate ideas for solutions, improvements, and new opportunities. This creates a more informed innovation funnel, where ideation is guided by evidence and insights from both inside and outside the organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Innovate & Craft <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Once you have gathered relevant insights and trends, the next question is: who should be involved in solving these challenges? It is important to identify your key audiences and have a clear understanding of how they will contribute to your innovation funnel. These audiences may overlap with the customers and external data providers involved in the discovery phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    So far, the innovation funnel has focused primarily on external sources of insight. At this stage, you should also incorporate internal resources, bringing together employees, experts, and other stakeholders who can apply their knowledge and experience to your strategic challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Strategic & Company Goals<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    This is usually where the standard innovation funnel begins, using your organization\u2019s goals and strategy to define what to ideate around. While we see this as only one part of the wider innovation funnel, it is no less important. Strategic goals may be influenced by insights gathered during front-end discovery, as well as internal business priorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Leadership and employees can bring different perspectives to these priorities, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n