Innovations should be practical and novel

I recently posted in the International Legal Technology Association's KM blog a piece focused on the need for innovations that are both practical and novel for law firm / department innovation (click here to read it).

I think the "test" I propose in that blog post, for whether an organization should consider adopting a new innovation, is useful for all types of organizations. Here's the test, slightly adapted to be useful for a general audience, for whether your organization should consider an innovation to be both practical and novel:

• not yet widely used (10% or fewer) by organizations you would compare yourself to
• be currently available
• have some track record of positive business results (something leading, but not bleeding edge), evidenced by
  • improved efficiency,
  • reduced risk,
  • increased (internal or external) client satisfaction, or
  • attracting new work / responsibilities
• be easy for most of the people in your organization to adopt most of the time (the tool or technique must build on or extend what most people already do, rather than require them to do something entirely different)
• can be started at relatively low cost (say, with a handful of staff in a pilot), and
• be cost-effective when fully launched

A quick note on including "novel" as part of the test; the reason for this is that if an innovation is widely in use by others that you compare yourself to, it no longer confers any competitive edge (but may simply be something that has become "table stakes" for your industry - or is, in fact, useless, and you've avoided wasted time and money by not implementing it).

Let me know what you think of the test.