The terms defined in the chapters of the book, with the chapter in which each definition appears. Entries are listed alphabetically.
Absorptive capacityAbsorptive capacity
An organization’s ability to recognize the value of external knowledge, assimilate it and apply it. Chapter 18
Academic engagementAcademic engagement
Faculty collaboration with external organizations through joint or contract research or consulting, as distinct from the commercialization of research. Chapter 20
Academic heartlandAcademic heartland
The departments and colleges where teaching and research take place, as distinct from peripheral units. Chapter 20
A team’s activities with external parties: communicating with leadership, coordinating with other units and gathering knowledge. Chapter 9
Business modelBusiness model
The logic by which an organization delivers value to those it serves and captures enough to sustain itself. Chapter 13
Business process innovationBusiness process innovation
A new or improved change in the way an organization operates in one of its business functions. Chapter 1
Campbell's lawCampbell's law
The more a quantitative indicator is relied on in decision-making, the greater the pressure to manipulate it and to distort what it measures. Chapter 16
CertificationCertification
Verification by an independent body that an organization’s system conforms to the requirements of a specified standard. Chapter 5
Challenge questionChallenge question
A formulation of a priority problem that specifies what is needed without imposing the solution. Chapter 4
Chief innovation officerChief innovation officer
The person who leads the orchestrating unit and achieves results through units they do not head. Chapter 6
Collingridge dilemmaCollingridge dilemma
The difficulty of controlling an innovation: it is easy to change while its effects are unknown, and hard to change once they become clear. Chapter 19
Componential model of creativityComponential model of creativity
A model that explains individual creativity through domain-relevant skills, creativity-relevant processes and intrinsic task motivation, within the context of the work environment. Chapter 7
ConceptConcept
A description of a solution clear enough to be understood and tested, including its critical assumptions. Chapter 12
Convergent thinkingConvergent thinking
Arriving at the most suitable answer among the alternatives. Chapter 12
Creative climateCreative climate
The patterns of behavior and feeling observed in daily work that encourage or hinder creativity. Chapters 8 and 16
Creative self-efficacyCreative self-efficacy
A person’s belief in their ability to produce new and useful ideas. Chapter 7
Critical assumptionCritical assumption
An assumption that, if wrong, brings down the whole initiative. Chapter 14
Inputs are the resources and conditions that enable innovation; outputs are its knowledge, technological and creative results. Chapter 2
Innovation labInnovation lab
A unit dedicated to experimentation and to tackling complex problems with new methods. Chapter 6
Innovation managementInnovation management
The practices and capabilities that steer the flow of opportunities, ideas and initiatives, and manage experimentation, decisions and resources through to the realization of value. Chapter 1
Innovation management systemInnovation management system
The formal framework through which an organization manages the flow of opportunities and initiatives through to value, encompassing strategy, governance, roles, resources and measurement. Chapter 5
Innovation processInnovation process
The successive stages an initiative passes through, from opportunity to implemented solution. Chapter 5
Innovation strategyInnovation strategy
A set of interlinked choices that define why an organization innovates, where, with what ambition and by what means. Chapter 4
Innovation theaterInnovation theater
Activities that resemble innovation in appearance without bringing about change in products, services or ways of working. Chapter 1
InstitutionalizationInstitutionalization
Embedding an initiative in the organization’s routine systems so that it endures without relying on the enthusiasm of individuals. Chapter 20
Intelligent failureIntelligent failure
An unexpected result of a small, well-designed experiment in uncharted territory that yields new knowledge. Chapter 8
Internal realitiesInternal realities
The organization’s current state in terms of leadership, culture, structures, roles and skills. Chapter 2
IntrapreneurshipIntrapreneurship
Entrepreneurial behavior by individuals within an existing organization to lead a new innovation. Chapter 1
Being drawn to work by its interest and challenge rather than by an external reward. Chapter 7
Isomorphic mimicryIsomorphic mimicry
Adopting the forms of successful organizations without the capabilities that make them work. Chapter 20
Issue sellingIssue selling
Employees’ efforts to draw senior management’s attention to issues they consider important and to shape how management understands them. Chapter 6
Job-relevant diversityJob-relevant diversity
Differences among team members in disciplines and expertise relevant to the problem. Chapter 9
Jobs to be doneJobs to be done
The progress a person seeks in a particular circumstance, enlisting a product or service to achieve it. Chapter 11
Lead usersLead users
People who face a need before others and expect large benefits from meeting it, and so innovate solutions for themselves. Chapter 11
Loose couplingLoose coupling
The condition of units that respond to one another while each retains its independence, so that what happens in one carries over only weakly to the others. Chapter 20
Maturity modelMaturity model
A description of successive levels of capability, used to assess the current position and identify the next step. Chapter 16
Micro-credentialMicro-credential
Formal recognition of specific competencies acquired in a short learning program. Chapter 20
Mimetic isomorphismMimetic isomorphism
The tendency of organizations, under ambiguity, to imitate organizations they see as successful or legitimate. Chapter 20
Minimum viable productMinimum viable product
The smallest version of a product that allows the greatest amount of learning with the least effort. Chapter 14
An experiment in which participants are randomly assigned to the solution or an alternative, in order to isolate the solution’s effect. Chapter 14
Real optionsReal options
A logic that treats a small early investment as the right to scale up later or to stop with a limited loss. Chapter 10
Reference class forecastingReference class forecasting
Estimating cost and duration by looking at what actually happened in similar projects. Chapter 17
ReframingReframing
Formulating a problem from a different angle that reveals new solutions. Chapter 11
RelevanceRelevance
The continuing connection between what an organization offers and the needs of its beneficiaries, now and in the future. Chapter 2
Responsible innovationResponsible innovation
Taking care of the future through collective stewardship of science and innovation in the present, grounded in anticipation, reflexivity, inclusion and responsiveness. Chapter 19
Results chain / logic modelResults chain / logic model
A sequence linking inputs and activities to outputs, outcomes and impact. Chapter 16
Scenario planningScenario planning
Sketching several plausible futures in order to test decisions against them. Chapter 4
Search field / Innovation arenaSearch field / Innovation arena
A priority area of opportunity that directs exploration efforts. Chapter 4
Servant leadershipServant leadership
A leadership style that makes serving followers and meeting their needs and growth an end in itself. Chapter 3
Solution requirementsSolution requirements
What any solution must achieve to count as successful, regardless of its form. Chapter 12
Spending efficiencySpending efficiency
Achieving the greatest possible value with the available resources. Chapter 17
Stage-GateStage-Gate
A system that divides an initiative’s journey into stages separated by decision points with predefined criteria. Chapter 10
Staged fundingStaged funding
Funding an initiative stage by stage, with each tranche tied to passing a gate. Chapter 10
Stages of concernStages of concern
The progression of adopters’ questions and concerns from the self, to the task, to impact. Chapter 15
Strategic triangleStrategic triangle
A framework that links the success of a public initiative to the alignment of public value, legitimacy and support, and operational capacity. Chapter 13
Intentional changes to an organization’s values, products and processes that create environmental and social value alongside economic value. Chapter 19
The innovator's pathThe innovator's path
A model that reads an idea’s journey from its owner’s perspective, from thought to practice, together with its outcomes and its surrounding environment. Chapter 7
Three horizonsThree horizons
Dividing initiatives according to their distance from the current business and their degree of uncertainty. Chapter 4
Total cost of ownershipTotal cost of ownership
The cost of a solution over its whole life, from purchase through operation to retirement. Chapter 17
Triple helixTriple helix
A model that explains innovation through the interaction of university, industry and government. Chapter 18
Unintended consequencesUnintended consequences
Consequences of purposive action that the actor neither intended nor foresaw. Chapter 19
Value propositionValue proposition
The job a solution helps people get done, and why it is better than their alternatives. Chapter 13
Vanity metricsVanity metrics
Numbers that look good in reports but do not indicate the value actually achieved. Chapter 16
Voltage effectVoltage effect
The decline in a program’s impact as it scales from a pilot to wide implementation. Chapter 15
VUCAVUCA
A description of the environment along four dimensions: volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Chapter 2
Weak signalsWeak signals
Early, ambiguous information about an approaching change. Chapter 4
Wicked problemWicked problem
A problem that cannot be definitively formulated and that changes with every attempt to solve it. Chapter 11
Work environment for creativityWork environment for creativity
The enablers and obstacles within an organization that affect employees’ creativity, particularly their motivation. Chapter 7
WorkaroundWorkaround
A method people devise to cope with a problem that no one has solved for them. Chapter 11