Too many ideas, too little execution
The pipeline continues to grow, while few initiatives reach operational use, the market or the mission.
Ask The Innovator
Innovation management systems for complex organisationsInnovation,
engineered
to last.
Innovation activity is not the outcome. We help technical, industrial and mission-driven organisations identify what weakens portfolio decisions, deployment and value visibility, then repair or build the management mechanisms that matter.
Decision-led diagnostics✦ISO 56001 evidence backbone✦Improve or Build✦First use before handover✦Quarterly review✦Technical and industrial organisations✦Decision-led diagnostics✦ISO 56001 evidence backbone✦Improve or Build✦First use before handover✦Quarterly review✦Technical and industrial organisations✦
01 · The challenge
Innovation without a system is expensive experimentation.
Activity alone does not create innovation capability. Without a coherent management system, the same executive-level problems keep returning.
Unclear ownership
Responsibilities and decision rights are ambiguous, causing initiatives to stall between teams, sponsors and committees.
Limited visibility of value
Innovation activity cannot be connected clearly to strategic, operational or financial outcomes.
Fragmented across the organisation
Disconnected teams, programmes and experiments do not add up to a coherent organisational capability.
02 · Flagship diagnostic
Innovation System Core Diagnostic
Establish what is weakening the innovation management system, what leadership should address first and whether the right next move is Improve or Build.
For one bounded business unit, the Core Diagnostic combines ISO 56001 clauses 4–10 with interviews, documents, perception data and initiative histories. The result is a defensible decision, not a generic maturity score.
Explore the Core DiagnosticWhat you receive
What you receive
Every facilitated assessment converts traceable evidence into practical management choices.
- A defined decision question and evidence boundary
- Separate practice-capability, evidence-confidence and business-effect views
- Cross-cutting root-cause findings
- Prioritised actions with owners, benefits and measures
- A sponsor decision session and decision record
- Proportionate follow-through after the decision
03 · Two ways to start
Start with the decision.
Match the evidence to it.
Use the free Value Scan to decide whether diagnostic work is worthwhile, or choose the flagship Core Diagnostic when leadership needs a validated system baseline.
01Innovation Value Scan
30-minute callFind out whether a paid diagnostic can improve a consequential innovation-management decision before either party commits more time.
- A five-minute pre-call intake
- A structured 30-minute decision and fit conversation
- A one-page Diagnostic Potential Brief
02Innovation System Core Diagnostic
5-day programmeIdentify what is weakening innovation performance, what should change first, and whether the right route is Improve, Build or internal action.
- Full ISO 56001 clauses 4–10 evidence backbone
- 10–20 stakeholder perceptions and 5–7 interviews
- Document, portfolio and representative initiative evidence
Two principal change routes
Repair what works. Build only when necessary.
Evidence determines whether connected mechanisms can be repaired through Improve or a minimum viable Innovation Management System must be created through Build.
Compare all services and capabilities →60 days
Improve
Repair one to three connected management mechanisms, prove them in live work and leave the client able to sustain them.
Read more →Scope-led durationBuild
Design and implement a minimum viable Innovation Management System when repair would leave a fragmented patchwork.
Read more →Recurring review loopAssist
Turn the diagnostic baseline into a quarterly executive decision rhythm that tests performance, value and the next system improvement.
→Optional post-system pilotActivateUse one strategically relevant initiative to prove that the IMS creates disciplined evidence, timely decisions and learning.
→04 · Methodology
Evidence to value.
Five decision gates.
Each phase has a decision question and exit evidence, moving from a bounded problem to first use, measurement and handover.
01
Diagnose
Frame the management decision and establish what is happening through traceable evidence.
02
Decide
Choose priorities, owners, resources, measures and the right Improve-or-Build route.
03
Improve or Build
Repair connected mechanisms or create the minimum viable management-system architecture.
04
Prove
Use the mechanism in live operating cycles and demonstrate first use before handover.
05
Assist
Review performance, value and the next improvement through a quarterly executive rhythm.
The shift that matters
“Innovation should not depend on a few heroic individuals. It should be embedded in the management system of the organisation.”
FromInnovation theatreEvents, showcases and isolated activity
Innovation infrastructureGovernance, ownership and measurable outcomes
05 · Recognised principles
Informed by recognised innovation-management principles
The assessment approach draws on principles from the ISO 56000 family, including ISO 56001 for innovation management systems. These principles are applied pragmatically and adapted to the organisation’s context, maturity and strategic priorities.
Ask The Innovator provides advisory and assessment services. It does not issue accredited ISO certification.06 · Strong-fit clients
Built for a real management decision.
Especially relevant to Dutch industrial, engineering, technology and technical B2B organisations; government and defence form a second lane.
- A portfolio decision or investment choice is due within roughly 90 days
- A senior sponsor and operational owner are available
- Documents, records, interviews and initiative histories can be accessed
- There is capacity to act on the evidence
- Innovation exposure is visible across a recurring portfolio of initiatives
07 · Experience
Experience across complex organisations
- More than ten years working across commercial, public and mission-driven organisations
- Strategic innovation and innovation adoption
- Governance, portfolio decisions and operating structures
- Founder-led delivery with selected specialist support when required
Founder & Innovation Strategist
08 · About
Innovation management for complex organisations.
Ask The Innovator was founded by Djamiel Nanhekhan, an innovation strategist with more than ten years of experience across commercial, public and mission-driven organisations.
His work focuses on strategic alignment, governance, ownership, portfolio decisions, experimentation, adoption and continuous improvement.
For engagements requiring additional expertise, selected specialists can be involved while the consultancy remains responsible for strategic direction, coordination and quality.
Founder-ledStrategic innovationInnovation adoption
09 · Innovation Value Scan
Find out whether a diagnostic is worth doing.
Share the decision, deadline and innovation exposure. Qualified requests receive a focused 30-minute call and a one-page Diagnostic Potential Brief within one working day.
- The decision or deadline that creates urgency
- The recent event that exposed the problem
- The available sponsor and evidence
- The organisation’s capacity to act