An introduction to Value Innovation based on the origins of Blue Ocean strategy was presented to set the scene and to illustrate where the methodology evolved from. To get the delegates minds in gear, I kick-started the workshop with a group activity based around a product that was outside of their sector: without knowing any customer insights or an idea of who the Most Important Customer (MIC) is, the challenge was to think of all the elements of the catheter replacement kit that should be changed to enhance the value delivered to the MIC.
The groups came up with a number of ways to improve the product offering. After a short period of time, I asked three of them to present their ideas. Interestingly; the groups had very similar ideas of how to improve the offering. I then proceeded to give more background to the Value Innovation process and illustrated how the ten key steps of the methodology linked with the organisation’s current gated process of New Product Development.
To illustrate one of the key tools within Value Innovation, Value Curves, I presented the story of Novamin. Novamin, originally used in bone regeneration technology, is now used in GlaxoSmithKline’s successful Sensodyne Repair and Protect toothpaste product. The case study presented the journey of how Novamin used Value Curves to illustrate that their technology is worth investing in in order to move toothpaste from a Red to a Blue Ocean (an arena of uncontested market space). The Value Curves instantly visualise the proposed increase in value delivered to the GlaxoSmithKline and the delegates were able to see how this tool can be utilised for their in-house projects.
The day then moved into a company-specific project, which focused on Value Curves and Value Chains and was delivered by a senior practitioner, sourced from our unique Open Intelligence Network. By focusing on a particular food based Supply Chain, the delegates ran through an activity that involved them identifying the MIC in the Value Chain using Value Innovation tools. The senior scientist then presented the Value Curve that was formed as a result of identifying the MIC in the Value Chain, which clearly illustrated where the Blue Ocean opportunity sat within that particular Supply Chain.
The final session centred on the catheter replacement kit (Aplicare), which the delegates had explored at the beginning of the workshop. I gave a detailed presentation on the story of Aplicare, including identifying their MIC, Value Curves and the Contextual Interviews. The Contextual Interview section presented the most important step in the Value Innovation process and highlighted the significance of selecting an appropriate lead interviewer (an extrovert with a passion to delve deeper into the MIC’s wants, needs and problem spaces).
The outcome of the Contextual Interviews is an analytical process of highlighting all the relevant interview comments and linking them to the identified Elements of Performance when creating the Value Curves. From the presented story, delegates were able to prototype the new product offering that saw the product drive into a Blue Ocean opportunity space. All delegates fully engaged in this activity and each did a two minute presentation of their prototypes in front of the group – the winning prototype accolade was awarded to the group that incorporated the most changes needed to the product offering to ensure that it was now operating in a Blue Ocean (this was a hard decision, as all groups did an excellent job).
This interactive workshop was very energetic and very engaging, with all delegates deeply involved in the workshop to gain the most out of the content and the activities.
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