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Create Your Own X-ray

1. Getting Ready to Start

At last the time has come to develop your own innovation x-ray by following the Innova 3DX Method. This step allows you to put everything you’ve worked on so far, individually, in order. It also shows you how you can acquire the overall perception needed to ensure that the innovative mechanism is fully operational.

This is a very simple process if you follow the instructions below step-by-step. In actual fact, for all those who are about to do this for the first time, I think I can say that you’ve reached the easiest part of all.

I just need to make one small but important clarification first. The Innova 3DX Method applications that are most in demand are as follows:

• Organization diagnosis: work that incorporates the evaluation of the company’s three dimensions to identify the elements producing creativity leaks and those which by contrast, facilitate the process.
• Individual self-diagnosis: work focused on the internal strengths of a specific individual (second and third dimension), to identify individual brakes and strengths regarding the innovation and entrepreneurial process.

These are not, however, the only ones. Also required is an analysis with a systemic focus that deals, for example, with countries, regions or sectors.

Some adjustments will be needed as regards the dimensions and factors included in each analysis along with questions asked to perform each measurement. However, the methodology will be the same, so the guide shown below is valid for all – businesspeople, managers and entrepreneurs and also politicians, analysts, students, etc. Ready?

2. Construction Guide

2.1. Step 1: Building the Control Panels

To start with, take a look back and recover the measurements you already made of the dimensions and each of the factors. The first step is to enter the measurements in the control panels obtained so far.

Figure 12.1 Control Panel I (Innovative Ecosystem Panel)

Factors	Average obtained
Corporate culture
Innovation culture
Technological culture
Work climate
Physical framework
Emotional framework
Ethical and moral framework
Spiritual framework
Leadership and management style
Resources
Communication
Autonomy
Recognition and reward

Figure 12.2 Control Panel II (Innovation Potential Panel)

Factors	Average obtained
Creativity
Creativity self-assessment
Technological profile
Technological self-assessment
Psychological profile
Self-esteem
Optimism
Locus of control
Orientation to learning

Figure 12.3 Control Panel III (Passion for Innovation Panel)

Factors	Average obtained
Motivational expectancies
Probability expectancies
Value expectancies
Fear of failure
Orientation towards healthy fear
Tolerance of failure

This first step sums up all the measurements obtained in a single unit, which is a great help when proceeding with the subsequent analysis. Although many people think this is intuitive and needs no explanation, I’ll show an example to prepare your own panel for the first time, just in case.

Let’s suppose that the following responses have been obtained in the test on work climate, more specifically as regards the “physical space” pillar:

Figure 12.4 Measurement of Pillar 1 (Physical Space)

1.	The conditions of the physical environment I work in are good.	5
2.	The lighting is satisfactory.	6
3.	The temperature is satisfactory.	7
4.	The noise level is low.	7
5.	I am able to concentrate.	6
Average score		6,2

In that case, you would complete our panel as follows:

Figure 12.5 Control Panel – Example (I)

Work climate
Physical framework	6,2

2.2. Step 2: Building the Diagnostic Panel

Having reached this point, and having focused your attention so far on data measurement and compilation tasks, let’s move on to focus your activities on diagnosis, since the aim of this work is not to accumulate information, but to ensure that the information can be used to support decision-making.

The following step is to fill in the diagnosis panel.

Figure 12.6 Diagnosis Panel

Factors	Problem diagnosis
Creative ecosystem
Corporate culture
Work climate
Management and leadership style
Innovation potential
Creativity
Technological profile
Psychological profile
Passion for innovation
Motivational expectancies
Fear of failure

To complete it, let’s work with the following table of equivalencies:

Table 12.7 Table of Equivalencies

Score	Problem diagnostic and seriousness
0 – 3.5 (inclusive)	++ (very serious)
3.5 – 5 (inclusive)	+ serious
5– 6.5 (inclusive)	- (good state)
6.5 – 10 (inclusive)	- - (very good state)

How is it done? The direct equivalent shown by the table is entered into those factors that have only one element of measurement (creativity and technological self-efficacy). By contrast, in the case of those with more than one measurement element, the instruction is to enter the one with the lowest value.

Here’s an example. Let’s suppose that the following measurements were obtained in the second dimension:

Figure 12.8 Control Panel – Example (II)

Factors	Average obtained
Creativity
Creative self-assessment	3,8
Technological profile
Technological self-assessment	6,2
Psychological profile
Self-esteem	10
Optimism	9
Locus of control	9
Orientation to learning	3

In the case of creativity and technological self-efficacy, the Control Panel directly provides the result that will be transferred to the equivalency table. However, in the case of the psychological profile, three very positive measurements have been obtained and one negative, so let’s all take the lowest (orientation to learning - 3).

Hence, the panel will be completed as follows:

Figure 12.9 Example of the Diagnosis Panel (I)

Factors	Problem diagnosis
Innovative potential
Creativity	+
Technological profile	-
Psychological profile	++

Some people may wonder why they’re not working with the averages again. The answer is simple: because you’re seeking to identify and prioritise the problems (and hence their solutions). On the first panel you did it like this, because identification was done in the individual work of each explanatory chapter. If you did it like this, you’d leave behind a great many creativity leaks.

In actual fact, by following this approach the score for the psychological profile would be 7.75, a very positive score. However, as you can see, this is a factor that has problems indicating that actions are needed. This is obviously of no use to you.

2.3. Step 3: Building the Innovation X-Ray

You’re now approaching the end, since this is the third and last step in the development of the x-ray. To build it, you only have to transfer the symbols from the diagnosis panel to the x-ray skeleton.

Below are the skeletons for those who made an organizational diagnosis as well as for those who focused on individual 
self-diagnosis.

Figure 12.10 Organizational Diagnosis

Figure 12.11 Individual Self-Diagnosis

3. The Question and Answer Session

Now it’s time for questions about the results shown for the x-ray plus the answers. These are some simple questions that will help you follow the analysis and discussion.

Are the three dimensions found in a good state? Are any of the problems associated with current innovative behaviour? Which ones? Is the environment causing a block? Is it human potential? Do you need a dose of passion? After this first analysis it’s time to get down to the details, and with them, to locating the actual problems.

What are the elements that act as a spark – the strengths detected by the x-ray? Include here those factors for which the results could be: - - .

What are the elements that act as facilitators? Include here those factors for which the results could be: - .

What are the elements that act as brakes? Include here those factors for which the results could be: +.

What are the elements that act as blockers? Include here those factors for which the results could be: ++.

So now you know the sparks, strengths, brakes and blockers. So what do I do now? What should we do? Which direction do I take? Which direction do we take? How?

In order to set the innovative machinery running at full throttle, you have to denominate “a global balance” under the methodology, a scenario where all the factors score at least a – (absence of problems). The path to innovative leadership begins by achieving that status.

Special attention must be paid here to leadership and management style and the psychological profile, because if they reveal problems, those problems will directly hinder the process and sap the creative strength of the other factors from their respective dimensions. For example, pessimism can cancel a creative person’s innovative strength.

So innovation is force, movement and action, yet the balance isn’t sufficient. Sparks are needed to set off the process and accelerate it. This means that inno-leaders cannot accept this balance. They need to detect and stimulate their strengths and work on the construction of new ones because the path of innovation is a journey that involves overcoming problems and consequently, overcoming yourself without limits.

For the last question, “how?” – my recommendation is to begin at the beginning. Go back to reading the factors regarding which problems were detected in the x-ray, and consider your collective expertise in insight management and how it should be applied in this concrete case, here and now.

The Innova 3DX Method offers two additional tools to organizations that hope to lead in this field: benchmarking and influence quantification.

Benchmarking – comparative market assessment – offers a global perspective on the nature and origin of a problem, plus valuable information about the focus of the most effective solutions. To achieve this, it uses information obtained about thousands of professionals who’ve already taken part in this work.

For example, suppose you detect a high level of in-house pessimism, but benchmarking shows that the market is bursting with optimism? What will be your perception of the problem? You’d assume that something is not working well in-house and would work to find out what.

On the other hand, suppose that you also find pessimism very present externally and you are almost completely infected by it. To find an antidote you need to delve deeper into your understanding of its origin. In cases like this you’ll almost always find both internal and external reasons. Unfortunately, when tackling a problem of global reach, deploying remedial actions runs into a tough challenge: what can be done to prevent yourselves from becoming re-infected when you emerge into the external world? Pessimism is contagious and contact with the external world is inevitable. Comparative assessment – benchmarking – won’t provide solutions but it will provide the information needed to develop really effective corrective measures.

The Innova 3DX Method also offers quantification (and prediction) tools regarding influence and key performance indicators (KPI). This is especially useful for taking decisions about investment in remedial actions and for monitoring their effect over time.

Suppose that the x-ray reveals serious problems in three factors: corporate culture, work climate and leadership and management style? Where do you start? You could try throwing all your collective weight behind the problem, but resources are always limited, as is strength (and actions like this call for a great deal of energy). Why not prioritise? You could (and should) work on all three, but it would be more effective to put more weight on the factors that have the most influence on innovative behaviour, at least to start with.

This work should measure the influence of each factor, providing information like this:

Figure 12.12 Interpretation Example

This would be interpreted as follows: the work climate is responsible for only five per cent of innovative behaviour, while leadership and management style and the corporate culture is responsible for 15 per cent.

In an environment of limited resources, would you invest the same effort, time and money in all three factors if all were serious? As the influence quantification shows, this wouldn’t be the best path.

So now what? You’ve arrived at the end, but also at the beginning – the end of this diagnosis guide and the beginning of the journey to inno-leadership. There have been many questions, but also many answers and now you know where to begin and how to travel. From time to time obstacles may arise, but the effort is worth the trouble. It will produce valuable rewards.