Code Halos: How the Digital Lives of People, Things, and Organizations are Changing the Rules of Business

Chapter ThirteenCreate a Spark: Pilot Your Best Code Halo Solutions

It is in the next phase of the Crossroads Model—Spark—that game-changing innovations really come to life. This is where ideas start to take shape, as specific pilots include not just a technical proof-of-concept, but also a full review of the business model, market opportunity, and business case. By assessing all of these in the context of a working pilot, your team can get a complete and objective view of the opportunity and assess whether it makes sense to take it to market.

We call this phase of the model “Spark” because just as a small spark—at the right time and with appropriate context—can start a large blaze of innovation, it can also, if not managed properly, quickly fizzle out. In this chapter, we provide an overview of how to find, launch, and manage Code Halo Sparks.

A successful pilot needn’t take a lot of time or money; many can be completed within a few weeks. What they do require is executive commitment and intense efforts of a cross-functional team comprised of individuals from IT, appropriate business units, finance, and marketing. By employing Agile methodologies, this team should be able to produce a working pilot rapidly. At the end of this process, a larger cross-functional team should conduct a formal review of the pilot to judge its merits and determine if it should move forward.

Your pilots may look different from one another, and focus on any of the five key Code Halo constituencies—customers, ...