ISO 56007:2023
(Main)Innovation management — Tools and methods for managing opportunities and ideas — Guidance
Innovation management — Tools and methods for managing opportunities and ideas — Guidance
This document provides guidance on managing opportunities and ideas by: — explaining the reasons for and the value of managing ideas effectively; — describing how to prepare for front end innovation activities; — addressing people and organization issues, including innovation leadership, culture and strategy; — detailing innovation activities and their interrelationships; — outlining activity and process evaluation considerations that are important for innovation success. A sub-set of processes are addressed as described in ISO 56002, i.e. identifying opportunities, creating concepts, and validating them. The activities within these processes, when managed together, bring forward viable innovation concepts for development. Developing these innovation concepts into solutions and deploying these solutions is addressed by ISO 56002 and is outside the scope of this guidance document. This document provides guidance for any innovation type along the continuum from incremental to radical innovation, as defined in ISO 56000. This guidance is intended for: — any user involved in innovation, whether for an organization or individual; — any organization type or scale; — any understanding of value creation and realization, whether for profit, social impact, changes in strategic direction, or any other purpose. This document can help organizations to systematically manage their opportunities and ideas to realize greater value from front end innovation activities to arrive at go/no–go decisions for development. There is no one method or set of tools for use in all situations. Choice is impacted by a range of related considerations to be addressed in this document.
Management de l’innovation — Outils et méthodes de management des opportunités et des idées — Recommandations
Le présent document fournit des recommandations relatives au management des opportunités et des idées en: — expliquant les raisons et l’intérêt d’un management efficace des idées; — décrivant comment se préparer aux activités en phases amont de l’innovation; — traitant les enjeux concernant les personnes et l’organisme, y compris le leadership, la culture et la stratégie en matière d’innovation; — détaillant les activités d’innovation et leurs interrelations; — précisant les considérations relatives à l’évaluation des activités et des processus qui sont importantes pour le succès de l’innovation. Un sous-ensemble de processus est traité selon la description faite dans l’ISO 56002, c’est-à-dire par l’identification des opportunités, la création de concepts et la validation de ceux-ci. Les activités dans le cadre de ces processus, lorsqu’elles sont gérées ensemble, permettent de proposer des concepts innovants viables à développer. Le développement de ces concepts innovants en solutions et le déploiement de ces solutions sont traités dans l’ISO 56002 et n’entrent pas dans le domaine d’application du présent document de recommandations. Le présent document fournit des recommandations pour tout type d’innovation dans le continuum allant de l’innovation incrémentale à l’innovation radicale, telles que définies dans l’ISO 56000. Les présentes recommandations sont destinées à: — tout utilisateur impliqué dans l’innovation, que ce soit pour un organisme ou à titre individuel; — tout type ou échelle d’organisme; — toute compréhension de la création et de la réalisation de valeur, que ce soit dans un objectif de profit, d’impact social, de changement d’orientation stratégique, ou tout autre objectif. Le présent document peut aider les organismes à gérer leurs opportunités et leurs idées de manière systématique afin de créer une plus grande valeur à partir des activités en phases amont de l’innovation, pour arriver à des décisions d’arrêt ou de poursuite concernant leur développement. Il n’existe pas une seule et même méthode ou batterie d’outils à utiliser dans toutes les situations. Le choix est influencé par une série de considérations connexes, lesquelles sont traitées dans le présent document.
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INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 56007
First edition
2023-08
Innovation management — Tools and
methods for managing opportunities
and ideas — Guidance
Management de l’innovation — Outils et méthodes de management
des opportunités et des idées — Recommandations
Reference number
ISO 56007:2023(E)
© ISO 2023
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ISO 56007:2023(E)
COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT
© ISO 2023
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below
or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: +41 22 749 01 11
Email: copyright@iso.org
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
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ISO 56007:2023(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction . vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Preparing for managing opportunities and ideas . 2
4.1 General . 2
4.2 Key terms . 2
4.3 Uncertainty . 3
4.3.1 General . 3
4.3.2 Uncertainties versus risks . 4
4.3.3 Uncertainty reduction . 4
4.3.4 Screening for uncertainty . 4
4.4 Fundamental questions and principles . 4
4.5 Opportunity identification, idea generation and progression . 5
4.6 Front end innovation considerations . 6
4.7 Methods for managing opportunities and ideas . 7
5 People and organization . 8
5.1 General . 8
5.2 Leadership . 8
5.2.1 General . 8
5.2.2 Top management commitment . 8
5.2.3 Strategy . 9
5.2.4 Governance . 9
5.2.5 Front end innovation portfolio . 10
5.3 Enabling factors — Resources . 10
5.3.1 General . 10
5.3.2 Financial resources . 10
5.3.3 Time and space . 11
5.3.4 Competences and roles . 11
5.4 Enabling factors — Organizational support . 11
5.4.1 General . 11
5.4.2 Culture, motivation and recognition .12
5.4.3 Idea ownership and intellectual property (IP) management .13
5.4.4 Responsible innovation, inclusiveness and sustainability .13
6 Front end innovation processes and activities .13
6.1 General .13
6.2 Identification . 14
6.2.1 General . 14
6.2.2 Selecting the right path .15
6.2.3 Inspiring opportunities and ideas . 15
6.2.4 Sourcing ideas . 16
6.2.5 Generating and capturing opportunities and ideas . 17
6.2.6 Scoping opportunities and ideas . 17
6.3 Concept creation . 18
6.3.1 What is an innovation concept? . 18
6.3.2 Clustering/theming . 18
6.3.3 Concept generation . . 19
6.3.4 Cataloguing innovation concept uncertainties . 20
6.3.5 Selecting innovation concepts . 20
6.4 Validation of innovation concepts . 20
6.4.1 General .20
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ISO 56007:2023(E)
6.4.2 Testing . 20
6.4.3 Selection .22
7 Evaluation .27
7.1 General . 27
7.2 Inputs . 27
7.3 Activities . 27
7.4 Outputs .28
Annex A (informative) Preparing for managing opportunities and ideas .29
Annex B (informative) Managing uncertainty for opportunities and ideas .38
Annex C (informative) Front end innovation processes and activities .48
Bibliography .59
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ISO 56007:2023(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use
of (a) patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed
patent rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received
notice of (a) patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are
cautioned that this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent
database available at www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all
such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to
the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see
www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 279, Innovation management, in
collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/
TC 389, Innovation management, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between
ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement).
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
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ISO 56007:2023(E)
Introduction
0.1 General
The ability to innovate is central to any organization’s growth, viability, and impact within society.
Managing opportunities and ideas is central to the innovation management process. This document
focuses on early-stage opportunities and ideas in the front end of innovation; tools and methods for
identifying opportunities, creating innovation concepts, and validating innovation concepts to be
considered for development and deployment. It does not address ideas that result from development
and deployment activities.
Any organization wishing to innovate needs to bring good opportunities and ideas through to realization
to provide a stream of potential innovations. This document gives guidelines for the activities from
intention through to selection for development.
0.2 Guidance
This document gives guidelines to organizations and individuals to realize value from their
opportunities and ideas at strategic and operational levels.
Opportunities and ideas can come from anywhere, e.g. top down, bottom up, inside or outside
the organization. They can span the continuum of innovation types from incremental to radical.
Organizations need to manage their efforts at different levels of sophistication and complexity,
depending on their size, maturity, context, and ambition.
This document supports these different levels according to type of organization and innovation
ambitions. It also can help users select and adapt methods and tools that are appropriate to their
specific circumstances.
Types of organizations and users of this document include, for example:
a) established, large organizations (for profit and social value) desiring to be more systematic about
their idea and opportunity management activities;
b) small and medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to bring more structure to their innovation activities;
c) start-ups/venture capitalists considering how to evaluate opportunities and ideas more
systematically;
d) non-profit organizations seeking to leverage innovation activities to build a more innovative
organization for the benefit of their interested parties;
e) non-governmental organizations (NGOs) aiming to transform innovation ecosystems through more
effective and efficient innovation activities;
f) individuals inside or outside of an organization looking for a framework for managing opportunities
and ideas;
g) universities and research institutions exploring new ways to create value by addressing the needs
and expectations of the organization and their interested parties.
0.3 Front end of innovation
Figure 1 presents front end innovation activities in relation to innovation processes as described
in ISO 56002. Figure 1 emphasizes the iterative nature of managing opportunities and ideas, with
learning cycles that reduce uncertainty and lead toward realizing value.
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ISO 56007:2023(E)
Figure 1 — Front end innovation activities in relation to ISO 56002 innovation processes
The main clauses of this document provide information and guidance as follows:
— Clause 4 focuses on preparing for managing opportunities and ideas, including key terms of
reference, fundamental questions to ask, the progression of ideas, innovation drivers to consider,
and different methods that can apply;
— Clause 5 focuses on people and organizational considerations and how they can affect managing
opportunities and ideas;
— Clause 6 details opportunity and idea management activities and their interrelationships through
identification, concept creation and validation (further refined into testing and selection);
— Clause 7 covers review and evaluation of front-end innovation activities and efforts.
0.4 Relationship to other innovation management standards
This document relates to the ISO 56000 family of standards, developed by ISO/TC 279 as follows:
a) ISO 56000 for understanding the main terms, definitions, concepts, and principles of innovation
management.
b) ISO 56002 for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an innovation
management system.
c) ISO 56003 for working together to innovate through innovation partnerships.
d) ISO/TR 56004 for planning, implementing, and acting upon the results of an innovation management
assessment.
e) ISO 56005 for establishing and implementing an intellectual property (IP) framework, strategy,
and tools for IP management activities.
f) ISO 56006 for developing and providing intelligence to enable strategically driven innovation
decisions.
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ISO 56007:2023(E)
1)
g) ISO 56008 for planning, designing, and selecting indicators and metrics to measure innovation
activities and portfolios.
1) Under preparation. Stage at the time of publication: ISO/DIS 56008:2023.
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INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 56007:2023(E)
Innovation management — Tools and methods for
managing opportunities and ideas — Guidance
1 Scope
This document provides guidance on managing opportunities and ideas by:
— explaining the reasons for and the value of managing ideas effectively;
— describing how to prepare for front end innovation activities;
— addressing people and organization issues, including innovation leadership, culture and strategy;
— detailing innovation activities and their interrelationships;
— outlining activity and process evaluation considerations that are important for innovation success.
A sub-set of processes are addressed as described in ISO 56002, i.e. identifying opportunities, creating
concepts, and validating them. The activities within these processes, when managed together, bring
forward viable innovation concepts for development. Developing these innovation concepts into
solutions and deploying these solutions is addressed by ISO 56002 and is outside the scope of this
guidance document.
This document provides guidance for any innovation type along the continuum from incremental to
radical innovation, as defined in ISO 56000.
This guidance is intended for:
— any user involved in innovation, whether for an organization or individual;
— any organization type or scale;
— any understanding of value creation and realization, whether for profit, social impact, changes in
strategic direction, or any other purpose.
This document can help organizations to systematically manage their opportunities and ideas to realize
greater value from front end innovation activities to arrive at go/no–go decisions for development.
There is no one method or set of tools for use in all situations. Choice is impacted by a range of related
considerations to be addressed in this document.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 56000, Innovation management — Fundamentals and vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions in ISO 56000 apply.
NOTE For those definitions that are not included in ISO 56000, they will be included in the next version
of ISO 56000.
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ISO 56007:2023(E)
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org/
4 Preparing for managing opportunities and ideas
4.1 General
To prepare successfully for managing opportunities and ideas, organizations should:
— align on their key terms to create a common language;
— ask the right questions at the right time to enable learning;
— address organizational considerations that are specific to innovation activities;
— gain a clear view of opportunity and idea progression;
— understand how different methods can be applied.
Each of these considerations refers in one way or another to all or parts of three fundamental processes
described in ISO 56002: identify opportunities, create concepts and validate concepts.
The progression innovators seek is to learn, iteratively, to reduce uncertainty in order to achieve
sufficient clarity to make selection decisions as described in 4.3. The intended outcome of front-end
innovation activities is to deliver validated innovation concepts that are ready for development. Clause 6
provides advice on the activities that enable this intended outcome. Annex A provides an overview of
related methods.
In this document, validation is further divided into testing and selection. Testing covers all the activities
that contribute to reducing uncertainties to achieve an outcome as described in 4.2 and 4.3. Selection
covers the decision-making activities that are necessary to identify opportunities or ideas that deserve
further attention and ultimately become innovation concepts suitable for development. Selection may
also lead to rework or archiving of opportunities, ideas and innovation concepts that are not meeting
selection criteria.
4.2 Key terms
The organization should consider the following descriptions of terms to prepare for managing
opportunities and ideas:
— whereas "innovation management" is a process for managing the entire innovation lifecycle,
this document focuses only on front end innovation activities to prepare innovation concepts for
development;
— an "area of opportunity" can address a current strategy or a strategic intent or can emerge due to
external and internal changes. It has the potential to sustain, grow or renew an organization;
— an "opportunity" emerges from a set of circumstances that can lead to a potential innovation. It can
also lead to ideas or opportunity areas;
— an "idea" can be inspired spontaneously by an opportunity or an area of opportunity. It can address
a stated or unstated issue or problem to be solved, need or desire. It can emerge through serendipity
or by a direct challenge or brief. It can also link to opportunities or opportunity areas;
— an "innovation concept" is the result of evolving and refining either opportunities or ideas for
development, or both;
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ISO 56007:2023(E)
— an "uncertainty" (as defined in ISO 56000) is a lack of knowledge or understanding across a wide
range of considerations that increases the unpredictability of a desired/potential innovation;
— a "risk" (as defined in ISO 56000) is a deviation from the expected arising from uncertainty or an
event;
— "value" (as defined in ISO 56000) is the benefit that can be achieved by satisfying the perceived
needs and expectations of organizations and interested parties.
In the context of an organization developing an innovation management system, ISO 56002 advises
working from “areas of opportunity” to “opportunities” and on to “ideas”. In other contexts, such as in a
start-up, ideas can come before opportunities or even areas of opportunity.
Figure 2 below represents the relationship of an area of opportunity, opportunity and idea.
Figure 2 — Relationship of area of opportunity, opportunity, and idea
The organization should treat either opportunities or ideas, or both as the starting points or inputs for
front end innovation. These inputs are used to create and validate innovation concepts, which can then
be developed and deployed to realize value. Typically, an opportunity is more likely to be the starting
point for a radical or breakthrough innovation as more exploration is required to learn about the
potential solution. An idea is more likely to be the starting point for an incremental innovation as more
is known about the potential solution. Opportunities and ideas can have low, medium, or high levels
of uncertainty across different categories based on their maturity and complexity. Annex B provides
descriptions of methods and tools for managing uncertainty in these contexts.
Drivers of value can include pursuing new strategic ambitions, identifying specific areas for exploration,
addressing organizational challenges, developing new products, services, or operating models, and/
or building upon insights about interested party behaviour. An area of opportunity is an exploratory
market, domain, or strategic focus area in which to identify an opportunity or idea. It can also be viewed
as a theme.
4.3 Uncertainty
4.3.1 General
Uncertainty arises from a state of deficiency of information, understanding or knowledge that increases
the unpredictability of a desired or potential outcome. Since front end innovation is about exploring
new areas of opportunity, any new opportunity or idea faces different levels of uncertainty expressed as
assumptions, questions, unknowns, or potential problems that need to be resolved. These uncertainties
address factors, e.g. market need, technological feasibility, social acceptance, maturity of the idea,
strategic, resource or business model fit, interested party expectations, environmental responsibility,
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ISO 56007:2023(E)
estimated cost or time to develop. The focus is on what needs to be learned across a range of factors to
reduce uncertainty.
4.3.2 Uncertainties versus risks
Even though they are often confused, uncertainties and risks are not the same. Risks can be analysed
and assigned a probability of occurrence. Whereas risks can be mitigated and hedged against based
on probability, uncertainties can only be reduced through further investigation, testing and learning
to fill gaps in knowledge and understanding. Contrary to risks, a probability of occurrence cannot be
assigned to uncertainties. The possibility of finding the information can be assigned a probability but
...
Deleted: ISO/TC 279/WG 3¶
ISO/FDIS 56007
Deleted: :2023(E)
ISO/TC 279
Deleted: /WG 3
Secretariat: AFNOR
Date: 2023-02-16
Innovation management system — Tools and methods for
managing opportunities and ideas — Guidance
FDIS stage
Deleted: ¶
Warning for WDs and CDs¶
This document is not an ISO International Standard. It is
distributed for review and comment. It is subject to
change without notice and may not be referred to as an
International Standard.¶
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their
comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of
which they are aware and to provide supporting
documentation.¶
¶
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
© ISO 2023
Deleted: , Published in Switzerland
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this
publication may be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, or posting on the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can
be requested from either ISO at the address below or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
Deleted: • CP 401
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Deleted: , Switzerland
Phone: + 41 22 749 01 11
Deleted: Tel.
E-mail: copyright@iso.org
Website: www.iso.org
Deleted: Fax + 41 22 749 09 47¶
Deleted: www.iso.org¶
Published in Switzerland
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
© ISO 2023 – All rights reserved iii
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO
collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives). Deleted: www.iso.org/directives
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any
patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on
the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents). Deleted: www.iso.org/patents
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World
Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see
www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
Deleted: www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 279, Innovation management, in
collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC
389, Innovation management, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO
and CEN (Vienna Agreement).
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
Field Code Changed
Deleted: ¶
0
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
Introduction
0.1 General
The ability to innovate is central to any organization’s growth, viability, and impact within society.
Managing opportunities and ideas is central to the innovation management process. This document
focuses on early-stage opportunities and ideas in the front end of innovation; tools and methods for
identifying opportunities, creating innovation concepts, and validating innovation concepts to be
considered for development and deployment. It does not address ideas that result from development and
deployment activities.
Any organization wishing to innovate needs to bring good opportunities and ideas through to realization
to provide a stream of potential innovations. This document gives guidelines for the activities from
Deleted: guides
intention through to selection for development.
0.2 Guidance
This document gives guidelines to organizations and individuals to realize value from their opportunities Deleted: guides
and ideas at strategic and operational levels.
Opportunities and ideas can come from anywhere, e.g. top down, bottom up, inside or outside the Deleted: .,
organization. They can span the continuum of innovation types from incremental to radical.
Organizations need to manage their efforts at different levels of sophistication and complexity, depending Deleted: will
on their size, maturity, context, and ambition.
This document supports these different levels according to type of organization and innovation
ambitions. It also can help users select and adapt methods and tools that are appropriate to their specific
circumstances.
Types of organizations and users of this document include, for example:
a) established, large organizations (for profit and social value) desiring to be more systematic about
Deleted: a)
their idea and opportunity management activities;
b) small and medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to bring more structure to their innovation activities;
Deleted: b)
c) start-ups/venture capitalists considering how to evaluate opportunities and ideas more
Deleted: c)
systematically;
d) non-profit organizations seeking to leverage innovation activities to build a more innovative
Deleted: d)
organization for the benefit of their interested parties;
e) non-governmental organizations (NGOs) aiming to transform innovation ecosystems through more
Deleted: e)
effective and efficient innovation activities;
f) individuals inside or outside of an organization looking for a framework for managing opportunities
Deleted: f)
and ideas;
Deleted: and
g) universities and research institutions exploring new ways to create value by addressing the needs
Deleted: g)
and expectations of the organization and their interested parties.
0.3 Front end of innovation
Figure 1 presents front end innovation activities in relation to innovation processes as described
Deleted: Figure 1
in ISO 56002. Figure 1 emphasizes the iterative nature of managing opportunities and ideas, with
Deleted: Figure 1
learning cycles that reduce uncertainty and lead toward realizing value.
© ISO 2023 – All rights reserved v
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
Deleted:
Figure 1 — Front end innovation activities in relation to ISO 56002 innovation processes
The main clauses of this document provide information and guidance as follows:
— Clause 4 focuses on preparing for managing opportunities and ideas, including key terms of reference,
Deleted: — Clause 4
fundamental questions to ask, the progression of ideas, innovation drivers to consider, and different
methods that can apply;
— Clause 5 focuses on people and organizational considerations and how they can affect managing
Deleted: — Clause 5
opportunities and ideas;
— Clause 6 details opportunity and idea management activities and their interrelationships through
Deleted: — Clause 6
identification, concept creation and validation (further refined into testing and selection);
— Clause 7 covers review and evaluation of front-end innovation activities and efforts.
Deleted: — Clause 7
0.4 Relationship to other innovation management standards
This document relates to the ISO 56000 family of standards, developed by ISO/TC 279 as follows:
a) ISO 56000 for understanding the main terms, definitions, concepts, and principles of innovation
Deleted: a)
management.
b) ISO 56002 for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an innovation
Deleted: b)
management system.
c) ISO 56003 for working together to innovate through innovation partnerships.
Deleted: c)
d) ISO/TR 56004 for planning, implementing, and acting upon the results of an innovation management
Deleted: d)
assessment.
e) ISO 56005 for establishing and implementing an intellectual property (IP) framework, strategy, and
Deleted: e)
tools for IP management activities.
f) ISO 56006 for developing and providing intelligence to enable strategically driven innovation
Deleted: f)
decisions.
vi © ISO 2023 – All rights reserved
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
1
g) ISO 56008 for planning, designing, and selecting indicators and metrics to measure innovation
Deleted: g)
activities and portfolios.
)
Deleted:
)
Deleted:
1
Under preparation. Stage at the time of publication: ISO/DIS 56008. Deleted: CD
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
Innovation management system — Tools and methods for
managing opportunities and ideas — Guidance
1 Scope
This document provides guidance on managing opportunities and ideas by:
— explaining the reasons for and the value of managing ideas effectively;
Deleted: —
— describing how to prepare for front end innovation activities;
Deleted: —
— addressing people and organization issues, including innovation leadership, culture and strategy;
Deleted: —
— detailing innovation activities and their interrelationships;
Deleted: —
— outlining activity and process evaluation considerations that are important for innovation success.
Deleted: —
A sub-set of processes are addressed as described in ISO 56002, i.e. identifying opportunities, creating Deleted: .
concepts, and validating them. The activities within these processes, when managed together, bring
forward viable innovation concepts for development. Developing these innovation concepts into
solutions and deploying these solutions is addressed by ISO 56002 and is outside the scope of this
guidance document.
This document provides guidance for any innovation type along the continuum from incremental to
radical innovation, as defined in ISO 56000.
This guidance is intended for:
— any user involved in innovation, whether for an organization or individual;
Deleted: —
— any organization type or scale;
Deleted: —
— any understanding of value creation and realization, whether for profit, social impact, changes in
Deleted: —
strategic direction, or any other purpose.
This document can help organizations to systematically manage their opportunities and ideas to realize
greater value from front end innovation activities to arrive at go/no–go decisions for development. There
is no one method or set of tools for use in all situations. Choice is impacted by a range of related
considerations to be addressed in this document.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 56000, Innovation management — Fundamentals and vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions in ISO 56000 apply.
NOTE For those definitions that are not included in ISO 56000, they will be included in the next version
of ISO 56000.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
Deleted: —
Deleted: http://www.iso.org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
Deleted: —
Deleted: https://www.electropedia.org/
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
4 Preparing for managing opportunities and ideas
4.1 General
To prepare successfully for managing opportunities and ideas, organizations should:
— align on their key terms to create a common language;
Deleted: —
— ask the right questions at the right time to enable learning;
Deleted: —
— address organizational considerations that are specific to innovation activities;
Deleted: —
— gain a clear view of opportunity and idea progression;
Deleted: —
Deleted: and
— understand how different methods can be applied.
Deleted: —
Each of these considerations refers in one way or another to all or parts of three fundamental processes
described in ISO 56002: identify opportunities, create concepts and validate concepts. Deleted: ,
The progression innovators seek is to learn, iteratively, to reduce uncertainty in order to achieve
sufficient clarity to make selection decisions as described in 4.3. The intended outcome of front-end
Deleted: 4.3.
innovation activities is to deliver validated innovation concepts that are ready for development. Clause 6
Deleted: Clause 6
provides advice on the activities that enable this intended outcome. Annex A provides an overview of
Deleted: Annex A
related methods.
In this document, validation is further divided into testing and selection. Testing covers all the activities
that contribute to reducing uncertainties to achieve an outcome as described in 4.2 and 4.3. Selection Deleted: 4.2 and 4.3.
covers the decision-making activities that are necessary to identify opportunities or ideas that deserve
further attention and ultimately become innovation concepts suitable for development. Selection may
also lead to rework or archiving of opportunities, ideas and innovation concepts that are not meeting Deleted: ,
selection criteria.
4.2 Key terms
The organization should consider the following descriptions of terms to prepare for managing
opportunities and ideas:
— whereas "innovation management" is a process for managing the entire innovation lifecycle, this
Deleted: —
document focuses only on front end innovation activities to prepare innovation concepts for
development;
— an "area of opportunity" can address a current strategy or a strategic intent or can emerge due to
Deleted: —
external and internal changes. It has the potential to sustain, grow or renew an organization;
— an "opportunity" emerges from a set of circumstances that can lead to a potential innovation. It can
Deleted: —
also lead to ideas or opportunity areas;
— an "idea" can be inspired spontaneously by an opportunity or an area of opportunity. It can address
Deleted: —
a stated or unstated issue or problem to be solved, need or desire. It can emerge through serendipity
or by a direct challenge or brief. It can also link to opportunities or opportunity areas;
— an "innovation concept" is the result of evolving and refining either opportunities or ideas for
Deleted: —
development, or both;
Deleted: and/
— an "uncertainty" (as defined in ISO 56000) is a lack of knowledge or understanding across a wide
Deleted: —
range of considerations that increases the unpredictability of a desired/potential innovation;
2
Deleted:
— a "risk" (as defined in ISO 56000) is a deviation from the expected arising from uncertainty or an
Deleted: —
event;
3
Deleted:
— "value" (as defined in ISO 56000) is the benefit that can be achieved by satisfying the perceived needs
Deleted: —
and expectations of organizations and interested parties.
4
Deleted:
2 © ISO 2023 – All rights reserved
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
In the context of an organization developing an innovation management system, ISO 56002 advises
working from “areas of opportunity” to “opportunities” and on to “ideas”. In other contexts, such as in a
start-up, ideas can come before opportunities or even areas of opportunity.
Figure 2 below represents the relationship of an area of opportunity, opportunity and idea.
Deleted: Figure 2
Deleted: ,
Figure 2 — Relationship of area of opportunity, opportunity, and idea
The organization should treat either opportunities or ideas, or both as the starting points or inputs for
front end innovation. These inputs are used to create and validate innovation concepts, which can then
be developed and deployed to realize value. Typically, an opportunity is more likely to be the starting
point for a radical or breakthrough innovation as more exploration is required to learn about the
potential solution. An idea is more likely to be the starting point for an incremental innovation as more is
known about the potential solution. Opportunities and ideas can have low, medium, or high levels of
Deleted:
uncertainty across different categories based on their maturity and complexity. Annex B provides
Deleted: Annex B
descriptions of methods and tools for managing uncertainty in these contexts.
Drivers of value can include pursuing new strategic ambitions, identifying specific areas for exploration,
addressing organizational challenges, developing new products, services, or operating models, and/or
building upon insights about interested party behaviour. An area of opportunity is an exploratory market,
domain, or strategic focus area in which to identify an opportunity or idea. It can also be viewed as a
theme.
4.3 Uncertainty
4.3.1 General
Uncertainty arises from a state of deficiency of information, understanding or knowledge that increases
the unpredictability of a desired or potential outcome. Since front end innovation is about exploring new
areas of opportunity, any new opportunity or idea faces different levels of uncertainty expressed as
assumptions, questions, unknowns, or potential problems that need to be resolved. These uncertainties
address factors, e.g. market need, technological feasibility, social acceptance, maturity of the idea, Deleted: .,
strategic, resource or business model fit, interested party expectations, environmental responsibility,
estimated cost or time to develop. The focus is on what needs to be learned across a range of factors to
reduce uncertainty.
4.3.2 Uncertainties versus risks
Even though they are often confused, uncertainties and risks are not the same. Risks can be analysed and
assigned a probability of occurrence. Whereas risks can be mitigated and hedged against based on
probability, uncertainties can only be reduced through further investigation, testing and learning to fill
gaps in knowledge and understanding. Contrary to risks, a probability of occurrence cannot be assigned
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
to uncertainties. The possibility of finding the information can be assigned a probability but not the
uncertainty itself.
The inability to obtain the missing information, understanding, or knowledge, creates the risk that the
missing knowledge negatively affects the innovation concept. Risk is an effect of uncertainty and is
described as a deviation from the expected, where the consequences of an event and its
probability/likelihood of occurrence can in most cases be quantified from available information,
experience and/or capabilities.
4.3.3 Uncertainty reduction
The aim of front-end innovation is to identify and reduce uncertainty to a level acceptable for decision-
makers by filling gaps in information, understanding or knowledge, through a process of opportunity and
idea refinement and the generation of innovation concepts. It requires iteration and re-evaluation against
a set of options or selection criteria (see 6.4.1). When uncertainty is reduced sufficiently, and the Deleted: 6.4.1).
innovation concept is deemed to be validated, it is then ready for development.
Reducing the level of uncertainty can thus be achieved through exploration and testing methods or tools,
such as prototypes, tests, market studies, research projects, pilots, verifying assumptions, iterative
creative input, research and data acquisition, simulations, storyboarding, modelling, in-market
experiments, or reaching out to internal/external experts within networks to seek answers to questions.
Building prototypes is a way to learn and acquire knowledge about feasibility. Using methods, such as
lead user or design thinking, are efficient ways to verify user needs or desires as well as suitability of the
desired solution for potential customers.
In this document, the activities for obtaining missing information, understanding or knowledge are
included as part of testing. Testing, along with selection, is one of the two components of validation.
Further information on managing the reduction of uncertainty is outlined in 6.3.4 (cataloguing
Deleted: 6.3.4
innovation concept uncertainties) and 6.4.1 (testing).
Deleted: 6.4.1
4.3.4 Screening for uncertainty
As the management of ideas varies considerably with the level of uncertainty, the organization should
screen for levels of uncertainty. As outlined in 5.2.4, screening into three levels of low, medium, and high Deleted: 5.2.4,
can be effective for innovation portfolio management as well as for selecting innovation management
methods.
Annex B provides examples of specific methods and tools to manage uncertainties across organization,
Deleted: Annex B
technical/implementation, resource, market/mission, and interested party categories and independent
of them. Tools include how to screen for, identify, and reduce uncertainties, including calibrating efforts
to reduce them.
4.4 Fundamental questions and principles
In understanding the context for managing opportunities and ideas, the organization should consider
how the following questions apply to current, planned and future innovation initiatives.
— Why look for new opportunities? There are many reasons for deciding to pursue new opportunities
Deleted: —
including: competition, new technology, drop in sales/growth, economic, statutory obligation,
political and social change, outdated innovations, customer/user engagement, mission ambitions.
— What are the objectives? Make enquiries more specific by asking “How do these objectives help to
Deleted: —
focus innovation management efforts on types of innovation or on customers or products or service
attributes or mission purpose?".
— When will/might this happen? Timing, sequence, identifying milestones are all important
Deleted: —
considerations for planning and keeping opportunities and ideas on track.
— Who to enrol and engage? Key questions to consider are “Who is involved in creating and validating
Deleted: —
innovation concepts?” “Do we have the right capabilities and resources?” “Who is to benefit?” “Who
might resist or be disadvantaged by this innovation concept?” “Who performs which roles?”
— Where to focus? Expand efforts by asking questions, such as, “Where else might we…?” or focus efforts
Deleted: —
on “Where will this work best?” for envisioned opportunities and ideas.
4 © ISO 2023 – All rights reserved
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
— Which innovation management options are best? Choose among a specific set of options, e.g. “Which
Deleted: —
methods and tools are most appropriate for opportunity and idea refinement or setting up
Deleted: .,
experiments?”.
— How to set this up for success? Once a pain/need/desire is established, seek to ensure that
Deleted: —
opportunity and idea management efforts are successful. "Which are the best methods to use?".
Consider framing questions, such as “How might we…?”.
— What are the right questions to ask? Consider questions based on categories of uncertainty.
Deleted: —
See Annex B for examples.
Deleted: See Annex B
These questions provide a learning framework for understanding the considerations and success factors
for managing opportunities and ideas.
It is also important to consider these questions through the lens of innovation management principles
listed in ISO 56000 that can be specific to front end innovation activities as follows:
Deleted: the
— adaptability: developing adaptable structures and processes;
Deleted: —
Deleted: –
— managing uncertainty: ability to manage uncertainty and risk;
Deleted: —
— exploiting insights: effectiveness in capturing insights to successfully exploit them.
Deleted: –
Deleted: and
4.5 Opportunity identification, idea generation and progression
Deleted: —
Front end innovation activities can be managed both within and independent from more complete
Deleted: –
innovation management systems, i.e. for more comprehensive initiatives as part of a system through to
Deleted: .,
standalone ideas. For illustration, see Figure 1 in the Introduction.
Deleted: Figure 1
Organizations should have processes to rapidly generate, capture, and screen for opportunities and ideas.
More ideas from a diversity of sources can be better at an early stage than a few ideas from a few sources.
The organization should handle opportunities and ideas differently based on their categories and levels
of uncertainty. This requires iterating through activities and learning through practice, reducing
uncertainty with each iteration, and selecting innovation concepts to progress with or stop based on their
potential to deliver value. Questions should be asked, and answers verified, based on assumptions and
selection criteria, as outlined in Clause 6. There should be repeated cycles of learning until uncertainty is Deleted: Clause 6.
reduced through the acquisition of knowledge and information. As the goal is to decide if an innovation
concept is ready for development, the knowledge and information obtained can help decision making
based on the agreed selection criteria.
Figure 3 below illustrates the progression of opportunities, ideas and innovation concepts and their
Deleted: Figure 3
relationship with front end innovation processes. The order of activities is not universal and should be
adapted for either the circumstances or the processes, or both. Where this is practiced, it enables more Deleted: and/
successful decision making.
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
The linked image cannot be displayed. The file may have been moved, renamed, or deleted. Verify that the link points to the correct file and location.
Figure 3 — Progression to selection
Deleted:
To reduce uncertainty, the organization should:
— capture trends, e.g. sector, market, technology, societal;
Deleted: —
Deleted: .,
— conduct market analysis about competition and value potential;
Deleted: —
— seek customer/user feedback from prototypes and customer observation about an opportunity, idea,
Deleted: —
or innovation concept and what features, products, services, and solutions are most likely to be of
interest to users and customers;
— use personas and user experience analysis to study pains, needs, desires, and motivations about how
Deleted: —
a potential customer or user can adopt a new product, service, or solution;
— seek feedback from interested parties, import innovation concepts from experimentation,
Deleted: —
distribution, and supply chain partners, and get support from internal financial and organizational
leaders about the organization’s ability to produce and deploy a new product, service, or solution;
— use business, competitive, and strategic intelligence together with brand and IP analysis about return
Deleted: —
on investment (ROI) and viability related to an opportunity, idea, or innovation concept.
Deleted: intellectual property
More detailed, practical guidance on front end innovation processes and related activities is provided
in Clause 6. Deleted: Clause 6.
4.6 Front end innovation considerations
Different considerations can influence how opportunities and ideas should be managed, including which
methods and tools to use and how to use them. These can include how to think, what to think about, how
to assess contributions, and how to make go/no-go decisions.
— Scale and scope
Deleted: —
The origin of the opportunity or idea, effort to manage it or its eventual impact can determine scale
and scope. Ideas and opportunities can be trivial or game-changing or anywhere in between.
Scale relates to size and evolution of an opportunity or idea.
6 © ISO 2023 – All rights reserved
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
Scope sets its boundaries.
Where the scale or scope is not well known, experiment at small scale first and iterate until enough
is known to enable further management of the opportunity, idea or innovation concept.
— Uncertainty and risk
Deleted: —
Methods and tools can be applied differently along the continuum of uncertainty. Incremental and
radical innovations are the bookends from low to high uncertainty, respectively.
Risk appetite and risk management are additional considerations that can impact the choice of tools
and m
...
FINAL
INTERNATIONAL ISO/FDIS
DRAFT
STANDARD 56007
ISO/TC 279
Innovation management system —
Secretariat: AFNOR
Tools and methods for managing
Voting begins on:
2023-03-02 opportunities and ideas — Guidance
Voting terminates on:
2023-04-27
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BEING ACCEPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO-
ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
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OCCASION HAVE TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE
LIGHT OF THEIR POTENTIAL TO BECOME STAN-
DARDS TO WHICH REFERENCE MAY BE MADE IN
NATIONAL REGULATIONS. © ISO 2023
---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
FINAL
INTERNATIONAL ISO/FDIS
DRAFT
STANDARD 56007
ISO/TC 279
Innovation management system —
Secretariat: AFNOR
Tools and methods for managing
Voting begins on:
opportunities and ideas — Guidance
Voting terminates on:
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ISO/CEN PARALLEL PROCESSING
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ii
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NATIONAL REGULATIONS. © ISO 2023
---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction . vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Preparing for managing opportunities and ideas . 2
4.1 General . 2
4.2 Key terms . 2
4.3 Uncertainty . 3
4.3.1 General . 3
4.3.2 Uncertainties versus risks . 4
4.3.3 Uncertainty reduction . 4
4.3.4 Screening for uncertainty . 4
4.4 Fundamental questions and principles . 5
4.5 Opportunity identification, idea generation and progression . 5
4.6 Front end innovation considerations . 7
4.7 Methods for managing opportunities and ideas . 7
5 People and organization . 8
5.1 General . 8
5.2 Leadership . 8
5.2.1 General . 8
5.2.2 Top management commitment . 8
5.2.3 Strategy . 9
5.2.4 Governance . 9
5.2.5 Front end innovation portfolio . 10
5.3 Enabling factors — Resources . 10
5.3.1 General . 10
5.3.2 Financial resources . 11
5.3.3 Time and space . 11
5.3.4 Competences and roles . 11
5.4 Enabling factors — Organizational support .12
5.4.1 General .12
5.4.2 Culture, motivation and recognition .12
5.4.3 Idea ownership and intellectual property (IP) management .13
5.4.4 Responsible innovation, inclusiveness and sustainability .13
6 Front end innovation processes and activities .13
6.1 General .13
6.2 Identification . 14
6.2.1 General . 14
6.2.2 Selecting the right path .15
6.2.3 Inspiring opportunities and ideas . 15
6.2.4 Sourcing ideas . 16
6.2.5 Generating and capturing opportunities and ideas . 17
6.2.6 Scoping opportunities and ideas . 17
6.3 Concept creation . 18
6.3.1 What is an innovation concept? . 18
6.3.2 Clustering/theming . 18
6.3.3 Concept generation . . 19
6.3.4 Cataloguing innovation concept uncertainties . 20
6.3.5 Selecting innovation concepts . 20
6.4 Validation of innovation concepts . 20
6.4.1 General .20
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
6.4.2 Testing . 20
6.4.3 Selection .22
7 Evaluation .27
7.1 General . 27
7.2 Inputs . 27
7.3 Activities . 27
7.4 Outputs .28
Annex A (informative) Preparing for managing opportunities and ideas .29
Annex B (informative) Managing uncertainty for opportunities and ideas.38
Annex C (informative) Front end innovation processes and activities .48
Bibliography .59
iv
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out
through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical
committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International
organizations, governmental and nongovernmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.
ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of
electrotechnical standardization.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are
described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the
editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of
any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or
on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and
expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to
the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see
www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 279, Innovation management, in
collaboration with the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) Technical Committee CEN/TC
389, Innovation management, in accordance with the Agreement on technical cooperation between ISO
and CEN (Vienna Agreement).
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
Introduction
0.1 General
The ability to innovate is central to any organization’s growth, viability, and impact within society.
Managing opportunities and ideas is central to the innovation management process. This document
focuses on early-stage opportunities and ideas in the front end of innovation; tools and methods for
identifying opportunities, creating innovation concepts, and validating innovation concepts to be
considered for development and deployment. It does not address ideas that result from development
and deployment activities.
Any organization wishing to innovate needs to bring good opportunities and ideas through to realization
to provide a stream of potential innovations. This document gives guidelines for the activities from
intention through to selection for development.
0.2 Guidance
This document gives guidelines to organizations and individuals to realize value from their
opportunities and ideas at strategic and operational levels.
Opportunities and ideas can come from anywhere, e.g. top down, bottom up, inside or outside
the organization. They can span the continuum of innovation types from incremental to radical.
Organizations need to manage their efforts at different levels of sophistication and complexity,
depending on their size, maturity, context, and ambition.
This document supports these different levels according to type of organization and innovation
ambitions. It also can help users select and adapt methods and tools that are appropriate to their
specific circumstances.
Types of organizations and users of this document include, for example:
a) established, large organizations (for profit and social value) desiring to be more systematic about
their idea and opportunity management activities;
b) small and medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to bring more structure to their innovation activities;
c) startups/venture capitalists considering how to evaluate opportunities and ideas more
systematically;
d) non-profit organizations seeking to leverage innovation activities to build a more innovative
organization for the benefit of their interested parties;
e) non-governmental organizations (NGOs) aiming to transform innovation ecosystems through more
effective and efficient innovation activities;
f) individuals inside or outside of an organization looking for a framework for managing opportunities
and ideas;
g) universities and research institutions exploring new ways to create value by addressing the needs
and expectations of the organization and their interested parties.
0.3 Front end of innovation
Figure 1 presents front end innovation activities in relation to innovation processes as described
in ISO 56002. Figure 1 emphasizes the iterative nature of managing opportunities and ideas, with
learning cycles that reduce uncertainty and lead toward realizing value.
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
Figure 1 — Front end innovation activities in relation to ISO 56002 innovation processes
The main clauses of this document provide information and guidance as follows:
— Clause 4 focuses on preparing for managing opportunities and ideas, including key terms of
reference, fundamental questions to ask, the progression of ideas, innovation drivers to consider,
and different methods that can apply;
— Clause 5 focuses on people and organizational considerations and how they can affect managing
opportunities and ideas;
— Clause 6 details opportunity and idea management activities and their interrelationships through
identification, concept creation and validation (further refined into testing and selection);
— Clause 7 covers review and evaluation of frontend innovation activities and efforts.
0.4 Relationship to other innovation management standards
This document relates to the ISO 56000 family of standards, developed by ISO/TC 279 as follows:
a) ISO 56000 for understanding the main terms, definitions, concepts, and principles of innovation
management.
b) ISO 56002 for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an innovation
management system.
c) ISO 56003 for working together to innovate through innovation partnerships.
d) ISO/TR 56004 for planning, implementing, and acting upon the results of an innovation management
assessment.
e) ISO 56005 for establishing and implementing an intellectual property (IP) framework, strategy,
and tools for IP management activities.
f) ISO 56006 for developing and providing intelligence to enable strategically driven innovation
decisions.
vii
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ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
1)
g) ISO 56008 for planning, designing, and selecting indicators and metrics to measure innovation
activities and portfolios.
1) Under preparation. Stage at the time of publication: ISO/DIS 56008.
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FINAL DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/FDIS 56007:2023(E)
Innovation management system — Tools and methods for
managing opportunities and ideas — Guidance
1 Scope
This document provides guidance on managing opportunities and ideas by:
— explaining the reasons for and the value of managing ideas effectively;
— describing how to prepare for front end innovation activities;
— addressing people and organization issues, including innovation leadership, culture and strategy;
— detailing innovation activities and their interrelationships;
— outlining activity and process evaluation considerations that are important for innovation success.
A sub-set of processes are addressed as described in ISO 56002, i.e. identifying opportunities, creating
concepts, and validating them. The activities within these processes, when managed together, bring
forward viable innovation concepts for development. Developing these innovation concepts into
solutions and deploying these solutions is addressed by ISO 56002 and is outside the scope of this
guidance document.
This document provides guidance for any innovation type along the continuum from incremental to
radical innovation, as defined in ISO 56000.
This guidance is intended for:
— any user involved in innovation, whether for an organization or individual;
— any organization type or scale;
— any understanding of value creation and realization, whether for profit, social impact, changes in
strategic direction, or any other purpose.
This document can help organizations to systematically manage their opportunities and ideas to realize
greater value from front end innovation activities to arrive at go/no–go decisions for development.
There is no one method or set of tools for use in all situations. Choice is impacted by a range of related
considerations to be addressed in this document.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content
constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For
undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 56000, Innovation management — Fundamentals and vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions in ISO 56000 apply.
NOTE For those definitions that are not included in ISO 56000, they will be included in the next version
of ISO 56000.
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4 Preparing for managing opportunities and ideas
4.1 General
To prepare successfully for managing opportunities and ideas, organizations should:
— align on their key terms to create a common language;
— ask the right questions at the right time to enable learning;
— address organizational considerations that are specific to innovation activities;
— gain a clear view of opportunity and idea progression;
— understand how different methods can be applied.
Each of these considerations refers in one way or another to all or parts of three fundamental processes
described in ISO 56002: identify opportunities, create concepts and validate concepts.
The progression innovators seek is to learn, iteratively, to reduce uncertainty in order to achieve
sufficient clarity to make selection decisions as described in 4.3. The intended outcome of frontend
innovation activities is to deliver validated innovation concepts that are ready for development. Clause 6
provides advice on the activities that enable this intended outcome. Annex A provides an overview of
related methods.
In this document, validation is further divided into testing and selection. Testing covers all the activities
that contribute to reducing uncertainties to achieve an outcome as described in 4.2 and 4.3. Selection
covers the decision-making activities that are necessary to identify opportunities or ideas that deserve
further attention and ultimately become innovation concepts suitable for development. Selection may
also lead to rework or archiving of opportunities, ideas and innovation concepts that are not meeting
selection criteria.
4.2 Key terms
The organization should consider the following descriptions of terms to prepare for managing
opportunities and ideas:
— whereas "innovation management" is a process for managing the entire innovation lifecycle,
this document focuses only on front end innovation activities to prepare innovation concepts for
development;
— an "area of opportunity" can address a current strategy or a strategic intent or can emerge due to
external and internal changes. It has the potential to sustain, grow or renew an organization;
— an "opportunity" emerges from a set of circumstances that can lead to a potential innovation. It can
also lead to ideas or opportunity areas;
— an "idea" can be inspired spontaneously by an opportunity or an area of opportunity. It can address
a stated or unstated issue or problem to be solved, need or desire. It can emerge through serendipity
or by a direct challenge or brief. It can also link to opportunities or opportunity areas;
— an "innovation concept" is the result of evolving and refining either opportunities or ideas for
development, or both;
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— an "uncertainty" (as defined in ISO 56000) is a lack of knowledge or understanding across a wide
range of considerations that increases the unpredictability of a desired/potential innovation;
— a "risk" (as defined in ISO 56000) is a deviation from the expected arising from uncertainty or an
event;
— "value" (as defined in ISO 56000) is the benefit that can be achieved by satisfying the perceived
needs and expectations of organizations and interested parties.
In the context of an organization developing an innovation management system, ISO 56002 advises
working from “areas of opportunity” to “opportunities” and on to “ideas”. In other contexts, such as in a
start-up, ideas can come before opportunities or even areas of opportunity.
Figure 2 below represents the relationship of an area of opportunity, opportunity and idea.
Figure 2 — Relationship of area of opportunity, opportunity, and idea
The organization should treat either opportunities or ideas, or both as the starting points or inputs for
front end innovation. These inputs are used to create and validate innovation concepts, which can then
be developed and deployed to realize value. Typically, an opportunity is more likely to be the starting
point for a radical or breakthrough innovation as more exploration is required to learn about the
potential solution. An idea is more likely to be the starting point for an incremental innovation as more
is known about the potential solution. Opportunities and ideas can have low, medium, or high levels
of uncertainty across different categories based on their maturity and complexity. Annex B provides
descriptions of methods and tools for managing uncertainty in these contexts.
Drivers of value can include pursuing new strategic ambitions, identifying specific areas for exploration,
addressing organizational challenges, developing new products, services, or operating models, and/
or building upon insights about interested party behaviour. An area of opportunity is an exploratory
market, domain, or strategic focus area in which to identify an opportunity or idea. It can also be viewed
as a theme.
4.3 Uncertainty
4.3.1 General
Uncertainty arises from a state of deficiency of information, understanding or knowledge that increases
the unpredictability of a desired or potential outcome. Since front end innovation is about exploring
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