“All models are wrong, but some are useful.”
This quote from George Box opens a reflection on the essential role of methods in innovation management. No method is perfect, but some provide an indispensable framework for transforming an idea into a solid, value-creating project.
The word method comes from the ancient Greek methodos, meaning “the pursuit or search for a path”. In innovation, that path leads from intuition to value creation.
Although this webinar is in french, here are the key ideas discussed. Don’t hesistate to contact us for further informations about the topic, we’ll be delighted to exchange.
From project management to innovation management
Recent management history shows a progressive evolution: from project management, focused on planning and control; to quality management, centered on continuous improvement; and now to innovation management, which seeks to make new solutions emerge within uncertain and complex environments.
Innovation is thus defined as an idea that finds its market.
This logic is now reflected in the ISO 56001 standard dedicated to innovation management systems. The standard highlights the role of methods in structuring the approach, steering complexity and ensuring coherence between strategy, exploration and deployment.
Panorama of innovation methods
Many approaches have been developed to support innovators, each offering specific insights into value creation:
Design Thinking: a human-centered approach based on empathy, co-creation and multidisciplinarity. It leads to innovations more deeply anchored in real user practices.
C-K (Concept-Knowledge) Method: used to generate new concepts from existing knowledge. It encourages rethinking an object or service according to its capabilities — for example, imagining “an umbrella without fabric” or “an umbrella that dries its user”.
Lean Startup: aims to accelerate development cycles by experimenting quickly through the Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
Blue Ocean Strategy: developed at INSEAD, it proposes exploring new problem spaces, increasing value creation and reducing unnecessary costs.
Business Model Canvas: a visual tool providing a guided, structured and synthetic representation of a business model.
Strategic analysis tools: PESTEL, SWOT, Stakeholder Maps and Ecosystem Analysis help understand strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as the structure of the ecosystem in which the project evolves.
All these approaches can be integrated into a systemic value-creation logic, linking ideation, exploration, construction and deployment.
Posture: a key success factor
Beyond tools, innovation success depends on the posture adopted when facing uncertainty.
Researcher Saras Sarasvathy distinguishes between causal logic — based on planning — and effectual logic — based on action and adaptation.
The “effectual” innovator does not aim to neutralize uncertainty but to leverage it to seize new opportunities.
As sociologist Norbert Alter reminds us, “effective innovation policy lies in the ability to take advantage of uncertainty, to grasp it as an opportunity rather than neutralize it.”
Adopting the right posture means identifying clues, organizing them and acting despite the unexpected. This attitude enables the transition from idea to value.
Business Design: a global framework for steering innovation
Business Design integrates the main innovation methods into a coherent approach.
It links human (desirability), technological (feasibility) and economic (viability) dimensions to create a complete system for transforming ideas into concrete projects.
More than a simple collection of tools, Business Design offers a systemic view of innovation: understanding, experimenting, modeling and deploying in an integrated way.
It provides a structuring framework for project leaders, innovation departments and teams seeking to bring high-value solutions to life.
Innovation thus becomes a process of value production, where method and posture combine to transform uncertainty into opportunity.
By integrating all existing methodological approaches, Business Design offers the structure needed to steer this transformation — from idea to impact.
