General Mills Reveals Brand New Innovation Process
The General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network (G-WIN) shared key insights of its “X3 Process,” a new approach the company developed to provide a step-by-step roadmap for its open innovation projects, during a presentation at CoDev2012.
The new process has been instrumental in General Mills’ recent innovation projects, and they hope other businesses, organizations and individuals will find the X3 Process valuable to their projects as well.
“Since formally launching the G-WIN open innovation program at General Mills five years ago, we learned that our scientists were excited about the open innovation tools available to them; however, they didn’t necessarily know how and when to use them most effectively,” said Mike Antinone, associate director of G-WIN. “It became evident there was a need for a facilitator or roadmap for the entire open innovation process; something that would let our scientists be scientists, and let the process be the general management solution to guide them.”
Beginning in March of last year, the G-WIN team worked with a group of General Mills’ strategists and innovators to develop the approach, bringing together a number of best practices to balance the art and science of open innovation.
The X3 Process encompasses three core principals of innovation — eXamine, eXpand, and eXplore — and facilitates the process of innovation by helping make connections between unmet technical needs and actionable solutions. Unlike some other innovation processes, the X3 Process provides a non-linear path to success, allowing innovators to use only the steps necessary to effectively identify appropriate solutions.
“We realized that people approach innovation from various camps: for example, there are those who excel at defining needs or problems, but struggle to identify solutions; and then there are those who chase down solutions without first determining an actionable objective,” Antinone said. “It was critical that the X3 Process accommodates various approaches, so that anyone can use it to achieve success.”
The X3 Process includes the following steps:
General Mills first implemented the X3 Process internally to guide a sugar-reduction project that kicked off in June 2011, and the company intends to utilize the process for similar large platform projects in the future.
By sharing the X3 Process with leading open innovation experts and practitioners at CoDev, the company anticipates other businesses, organizations and individuals will find success using the approach to guide their innovation efforts as well.
To learn more about the General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network, visit www.generalmills.com/win.
The new process has been instrumental in General Mills’ recent innovation projects, and they hope other businesses, organizations and individuals will find the X3 Process valuable to their projects as well.
“Since formally launching the G-WIN open innovation program at General Mills five years ago, we learned that our scientists were excited about the open innovation tools available to them; however, they didn’t necessarily know how and when to use them most effectively,” said Mike Antinone, associate director of G-WIN. “It became evident there was a need for a facilitator or roadmap for the entire open innovation process; something that would let our scientists be scientists, and let the process be the general management solution to guide them.”
Beginning in March of last year, the G-WIN team worked with a group of General Mills’ strategists and innovators to develop the approach, bringing together a number of best practices to balance the art and science of open innovation.
The X3 Process encompasses three core principals of innovation — eXamine, eXpand, and eXplore — and facilitates the process of innovation by helping make connections between unmet technical needs and actionable solutions. Unlike some other innovation processes, the X3 Process provides a non-linear path to success, allowing innovators to use only the steps necessary to effectively identify appropriate solutions.
“We realized that people approach innovation from various camps: for example, there are those who excel at defining needs or problems, but struggle to identify solutions; and then there are those who chase down solutions without first determining an actionable objective,” Antinone said. “It was critical that the X3 Process accommodates various approaches, so that anyone can use it to achieve success.”
The X3 Process includes the following steps:
- Ask the right question(s) – gather knowledge internally to gain alignment on your “true” knowledge gaps and technical needs
- Get smart – build and develop new knowledge, including key insights and innovation opportunities
- Ask better questions – immerse your team in new knowledge to generate insights and new hypotheses
- Communicate needs – write, refine and finalize well-crafted briefs that clearly explain your needs
- Find smart people – use available tools and networking opportunities to identify potential solution providers
- Make connections – initiate relationships and kick off projects
General Mills first implemented the X3 Process internally to guide a sugar-reduction project that kicked off in June 2011, and the company intends to utilize the process for similar large platform projects in the future.
By sharing the X3 Process with leading open innovation experts and practitioners at CoDev, the company anticipates other businesses, organizations and individuals will find success using the approach to guide their innovation efforts as well.
To learn more about the General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network, visit www.generalmills.com/win.