Lean Innovation

Our framework is drawn from empirical innovation research, standards, and best practices (like ISO 56002:2019, lean six sigma, ISO 9001) on how the global best companies make innovation happen. This is our core focus, to demystify innovation with evidence-based practices and amplify the results in Africa. 

An innovation management system based on the ISO 56002:2019 standard provides a guide for the setup, implementation, maintenance, and continual improvement of innovation core processes for use in all types of established businesses. The Ntansa DX Lean Innovation Framework builds on top of ISO 56002:2019 to drawn from empirical innovation research to demystify innovation with evidence-based practices.

We believe innovation practices are made best through hands-on application and practical curriculum. That is why the Ntansa DX Lean Innovation Framework takes businesses from digital transformation to lean innovation.  Fewer whiteboards and sticky notes and more customer value. The framework is often (but not always) preceded by a guided digital transformation program that applies lean innovation principles to deliver efficient outcomes.  The result is an experience-based application of lean innovation to support the understanding and customization of the framework to a business.  

Before formally kicking off a lean innovation program and standing up an innovation management system, the Ntansa innovation team conducts an innovation capabilities assessment, that combined with the knowledge gathered from the digital transformation program, supports the prescription of the most appropriate go-forward plan to adopt lean innovation.    

The last stages of the lean innovation transformation journey involve the standing-up of a lean innovation management system to operationalize innovation work (beyond the best practices to include software, roles, capabilities, and expectations) and then taking a leading role to engage the businesses innovation team through a series of innovation projects leveraging the Ntansa DX Innovation Framework in various modes of support.  

In conclusion, lean innovation will be a self-run, self-monitored, and self-improved practice with a highly capable team, supporting systems and partners.

Innovating is not new.  Before the modern internet era of the early 2000s, incremental and sustainment focused innovation was enough for business survival, sustaining marketing position and to establish growth and industry leadership.  

Businesses are experiencing an unprecedented rate of disruptive technological change. The predictability, pace, and methods of the past are gone.  Business surviving today are autocatalytic digital enterprises that use sustaining innovations and disruption innovations in a continuous rhythm to their operations.  Businesses that evolve by only sustaining innovations will be disrupted by technology.  In contrast, businesses that evolve only through disruptive innovation will eventually shift into a sustaining innovation curve and, similarly, also be disrupted by technology. 

The answer is to use sustaining innovations and disruption innovations in a continuous rhythm.  This creates a culture of innovation, and though lean innovation practices a culture that delivers innovation efficiently and effectively.

Becoming a top innovator can help businesses outperform their peers by up to ~300% in terms of growth of sales, market cap, and gross profit.

Lean innovation is focused on working efficiently with knowledge. Simply put, lean innovation is about getting smart fast and delivers innovation efficiently and effectively through three fundamental pillars.

Lean innovation is about getting smart fast and delivers innovation efficiently and effectively through three fundamental pillars.  Number 1 is to 'do the right thing,' second, to 'do it right' and lastly, to 'do it better' all the time

Lean innovation takes organizations through an evolution to become proactive and open cultures that promote learning and customer value delivery.  We work closely with our clients to develop new services, products, approaches, and value through our lean innovation program.  

Innovation Practices Areas

• Increase Speed, Accuracy and Agility to Service
  • Technology as a complementary business service whereby process turnaround times are up to 10X faster and executed by a digital workforce that works 24/7.
• New Service Delivery Systems
  • Often predominated by the introduction of new technologies that spawn new value chains. (e.g. ebanking)
• New Customer Experience
  • Expand or strengthen the customer value proposition through the evolution of customer interaction points. The service concept may remain mostly unchanged, but the way the customer interacts with the service provider changes. (e.g. self service)
• New Service Concept
  • Net new service offering that created in collaboration with customer feedback.
• Artificial Intelligence Systems
  • Applying artificial intelligence to process and predict outcomes, support and make decisions, analyze information, and enhance human capabilities. 
• Knowledge & Capabilities
  • Consider knowledge as the most strategically significant resource of a firm. With capacity building and knowledge management, achieve unparalleled performance.

Our lean innovation methodology is governed by 11 principles and operating mechanisms that support the effective operation of an innovation management system.  These principles provide the framework to develop, sustain, and measure the innovation process and its value to the business.

From mobilization to achievement, we work with you to build and realize specific and transformational customer value streams. This is our utmost goal of all our clients and is embedded as part of our collaborative and iterative process. 

Through your transformation journey, our innovation practice areas are designed to bring continuous value. Some examples of what you can expect from our work include: