Cambridge Business Association
The Innovation Tournament Handbook
Book

The Innovation Tournament Handbook

A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding Exceptional Solutions to Any Challenge

Christian Terwiesch and Karl T. Ulrich
Wharton School Press, 2023
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Comprehensive
  • Innovative
  • Insider's Take

Recommendation

Some people think that great ideas happen out of the blue. Yet great innovation doesn’t have to be a random occurrence. Innovation experts Christian Terwiesch and Karl T. Ulrich have turned creative brainstorming into a step-by-step process that is well-structured, easily implemented and yields successful results. Terwiesch and Ulrich break down how to set up an innovation session, generate high-quality ideas and efficiently choose from the pool of opportunities. Through utilizing their guide, you can build a culture of creativity within your company ready to take on any challenge.

Summary

Before you begin brainstorming, clearly define the problem you are trying to solve.

Companies spend billions of dollars every year trying to come up with new ideas that will allow them to increase profits, make internal operations more efficient or change the market entirely. They look for problems both within and outside the workplace and charge their innovators with solving those issues. However, often the people working to solve a given problem don’t actually deal with the issue firsthand. Innovators need help from those with direct experience with the issue. They must collaborate to narrow down the root problem. For instance, if you wanted to reduce wait times for hospital patients, you should ask the doctors, nurses and other staff for their input to get a well-rounded picture of what actually causes long wait times.

Think about how you phrase the problem to your innovators. The way you frame the issue can inspire a lot of solutions or only a few. For example, the question, “How might we reduce patient wait times?” may only generate three solutions: reducing demand, ...

About the Authors

Authors Christian Terwiesch and Karl T. Ulrich are professors at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania.

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