FORTH Innovation Method
Facilitation & Application
"Structuring the Complexity at the Beginning of the Innovation Process to Create Innovative Concepts That Fit Your Organization's Reality!"
FORTH® is a method created by Gijs van Wulfen , which combines design thinking and business excellence, structured to trigger innovation. It creates 3-5 mini new business cases in a defined discovery process and creates a culture for innovation.
The outputs of this innovation expedition consist of innovative concepts that fit the ‘in-the-box’ reality of your organization.
5-Step Exploration Expedition: With an inspiring and practical innovation method, you can create and develop new products and services with the support of your internal team.
"FORTH" is an acronym; Full Steam Ahead , Observe and Learn, Raise Ideas , Test Ideas , and Homecoming . This method effectively combines daily "inside the box" management practices with "outside the box" creativity.
* In addition to his many years of professional experience in the field of innovation, the facilitator has documented his theoretical and practical expertise in the application of the relevant model and is a globally accredited practitioner of the method.
The FORTH® Innovation Method is owned by Gijs Van Wulfen.
Scope
Full Steam Ahead: In this first step, management is encouraged to initiate a real innovation project and the innovation goal is clearly defined. In addition, an appropriate idea development team consisting of internal and external participants is formed.
Observe & Learn: In the second step, innovation opportunities, trends and technologies are researched; customer problems are discovered among target audiences. The findings are shared within the team in an inspiring way.
Raise Ideas: This step consists of a two-day new product brainstorming session and concept development workshop. During brainstorming, new ideas are generated and then these ideas are turned into concrete concepts.
Test Ideas: In the fourth step, the developed concepts are tested on the target audience and improved based on feedback. The team selects the best 3-5 concepts and prepares them to be converted into mini business cases.
Homecoming: In the final step, the selected 3-5 new product concepts are detailed by creating concrete mini business plans for each. These plans are presented to senior management to ensure decisions are made for the next stages of the product development process.
Gains
Interdisciplinary Collaboration: The FORTH core team (8-10 people) works approximately 20 days over the 15-week period. Decision makers are included as extended team members and learn, work and make decisions together. This approach ensures maximum internal support from the start of the innovation.
Applicable Business Case Outputs: At the end of the process, 3-5 new mini business cases are developed that fit the "inside the box" reality of your organization. These business cases fully align with your innovation goals determined in the first workshop.
Initiating a Culture of Innovation: The FORTH process enables teams to learn to defer judgment, observe, learn, generate new ideas, and present business cases. At the end of the process, team members embrace an innovative perspective as a personal gain.
Proven Method: FORTH methodology increases your innovation effectiveness by at least two-fold. Scientific research shows that FORTH users bring 78 out of 100 ideas to the development stage and 51 out of 100 ideas are implemented; this rate is 21, respectively, in traditional processes.
