The Four Lenses of Innovation: A Power Tool for Creative Thinking

Working with theFOUR LENSES

In my experience with companies all around the world, the best way to apply the Four Lenses methodology is systematically. You might want to try some of the following recommendations, all of which are market-proven ways to dramatically improve your organization’s ideation efforts.

Let’s start with the ideal scenario: It’s time to create some innovative new growth opportunities for your company’s future. First, create a core group from across the organization that can devote some time to this critical challenge. Divide the group into four teams—one for each lens. Aim for somewhere between six and 12 people per team. If you are using a bigger group, it’s fine to have two, three, or even more teams per lens. With some companies, I have sometimes had as many as five or six teams working on each particular lens, so 20 or more teams in total. The goal is for each team to try to generate some important new strategic insights using one of the lenses. So some people will be challenging deep-seated orthodoxies about who your customers are, what you offer them, how you deliver value, how you make money, and how you differentiate from the competition. Others will be identifying and analyzing trends that have the potential to bring exciting new benefits to customers ...