Doable: The intrapreneur platform for 21st-century workers

SITUATION

A world hungry for innovation, the C-suite desperate to deliver it, and people longing to be a part of the process. With all this focus on innovation, it is a wonder that headlines such as "Why Big Companies Can't Innovate," from Harvard Business Review, and "Why So Many Corporations Struggle with Innovation," from Fortune magazine, are so common. But the fact is, at large corporations, there are many barriers stopping innovation from happening—barriers such as lack of tools for innovation, lack of process to develop ideas, lack of funds to build ideas, lack of transparency into company initiatives, siloed working units, limited opportunities to participate, insufficient rewards and recognition... The lists goes on. I witnessed these problems first hand when, as an innovation consultant, I was asked to try and solve many of them on behalf of my clients. I enjoyed doing the work, because I was able to lend my creative thinking and cross-industry experience to come up with innovations and prototypes that would move the business forward. However, I couldn't help but think that there had to be a better way to deliver sustainable innovation to companies. I realized there was an opportunity for companies to leverage their own in-house experts—the employees on the front lines of the business—and have them go through a process that would evolve their ideas into investment-ready innovations. In doing this, companies would not only use their resources more efficiently, they would also increase engagement among employees by asking them to participate in innovation opportunities beyond their daily job. This is increasingly important as employees' desires to be more entrepreneurial increase and the opportunities to act on their ideas outside the corporate walls become easier and more common. What I believed was needed was a platform for intrapreneurs—one that would let employees surface their amazing ideas, help management keep talent from leaving, and give companies innovations that return value to their core stakeholders.

STRATEGY

The opportunity was clear, so my team and I went about creating the software app that would enable employees to create and collaborate on innovations that would help move their company forward. In order for this app to be a successful, we would have to combat common pitfalls and practices of internal "innovation" programs: We would need create a platform that would not just be a glorified Dropbox for ideas. We would need to create a process from which to vet and evolve ideas so management would not think it a waste of their time. And we would need to create a user experience that employees would want to engage with and use outside of company walls. With these goals in mind, we set about designing the experience and building the platform. We developed a challenge-based system to help focus employees' ideas and give management a way of prioritizing innovation efforts, and came up with a process by which to filter out the best submissions. That process comprises three steps—Brainstorm, Bake, and Build. Ideas are vetted by the wisdom of the crowd in the Brainstorm phase and evolved through the collaboration of experts within the company as they complete ProofPoints in the Bake phase. Finally, the Build phase is where the team prototypes the idea once it is funded by management. We created a rewards and recognition program that gamified the process and showcased the individuals within a company who were performing above and beyond. The analytics that come from employee interaction with the platform allow HR and Managers to better understand their employees and their strengths, seeing them participate in more and different opportunities outside of their day job. The Doable software application will help companies completely transform engagement metrics while building unique cultures of innovation.

ACTIONS

01. CONSUMER-GRADE DESIGN

A fun and playful design to encourage participation on the platform. Complete with illustrations, animations, and vibrant colors, Doable is a far cry from the everyday enterprise software most employees are forced to use.

Screen Shot 2016-10-15 at 12.56.21 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-10-15 at 12.56.37 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-10-15 at 1.04.56 PM.png

02. SUSTAINABLE AND EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION POCESS

A tested and systemized process that allows for good ideas to evolve and great talent to grow. Through mechanics like Shoutouts, ProofPoints and timed phases, we have created a platform that does the heavy lifting of innovation management shepherds the process.

Screen Shot 2016-10-15 at 1.12.21 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-10-15 at 1.15.03 PM.png

03. MOTIVATING GAMIFICATION OF INNOVATION

A meaningful recognition and reward system that highlights employees for their skills and actions they have taken on the platform. Analytics behind the rewards and recognition allow for management to understand how different individuals and teams are performing over time

Screen Shot 2016-10-15 at 1.05.31 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-10-15 at 1.14.10 PM.png

Screen Shot 2016-10-15 at 1.14.30 PM.png

04. INSPIRATION THROUGH TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION

A dedicated space to unite around your shared mission – what we call a Quest. There's also room to share ideas and projects that are already underway.