
19 Innovation Metrics John Spacey, updated on March 19, 2021
![]() Cost Improvement RateIn many industries, innovation is focused on reducing a particular cost. For example, in the solar energy industry a low cost per watt is a valuable competitive advantage. A new cost rate represents the annualized reduction in a critical cost.Development PipelineThe number of innovations at each stage in an innovation pipeline.Experiment Cycle TimeThe average time from initial acceptance of an idea to its ultimate rejection. A short experiment cycle time indicates that ideas are quickly being validated and tested. Successful ideas are measured with the length of full innovation cycles such as time to market.ExperimentsThe number of experiments conducted per month or quarter and their success rate.Growth GapThe gap between your target and actual growth rate. Revenue growth is often the primary goal of innovation.Idea BreadthThe number of unique categories of innovation ideas. May highlight problems such as an innovation program that is overfocused on releasing a particular category of product.Idea DepthThe number of unique sources for ideas. Measures how well your innovation program capture ideas from your employees, partners and customers as opposed to resulting from two people brainstorming in a room.Idea GenerationThe total number of ideas that you're considering per month or quarter.Idea SelectionThe percentage of ideas that are being accepted for experimentation.Innovation CompensationThe percentage of your performance based compensation that can is directly tied to successful innovation.Innovation OverheadYour total innovation spend as a percentage of revenue. Can be used to benchmark against an industry or competitor.New PatentsThe number of new patents is amongst the oldest ways to measure innovation. Patents can be dangerous as a primary goal because they aren't necessarily valuable to your business. It is common for leading companies by number of patents to be large, well established firms that have moderate revenue growth. In some cases, such firms are perceived as lacking in innovation despite impressive patent numbers.New ProductsThe number of new products launched in a quarter. The definition of new product is important here as a slight upgrade to a product is often considered new. The goal of product innovation is to create products that improve on the old by an order of magnitude. As such, only truly new products are typically counted for the purposes of innovation metrics.New Revenue RateThe percentage of your revenue that comes from products that didn't exist 3 years ago.Project RiskThe project risk related to late stage innovation initiatives. Innovation processes typically seek to shift risks to early stage lightweight experimentation. Late stage risks are often commercially relevant and are managed with standard risk management practices.Return On InvestmentStandard financial metrics such as return on investment are used to measure the returns of an innovation program as a whole with the understanding that innovation is a long term investment that is better measured over long periods such as 3 years as opposed to quarter over quarter.Sustainability MetricsInnovation may be geared towards an organization's sustainability goals that are measured with metrics such as unit energy consumption or waste output.Time To MarketThe average cycle time from idea to launch.Time To VolumeThe average cycle time from idea to launch and achievement of commercial relevance as measured by business volumes such as service subscribers.InnovationThis is the complete list of articles we have written about innovation.If you enjoyed this page, please consider bookmarking Simplicable.
ExperimentsA guide to designing and conducting experiments.Innovation PrinciplesA list of common innovation principles.Fail Often
An overview of fail often innovation.
Pilots
The basic types of pilot used in business, science and entertainment.
Lead User
A definition of lead user with examples.
Moment Of TruthA definition of moment of truth with a few examples.User InnovationA definition of user innovation with examples.Proof Of Concept
The common types of proof of concept.
Commercialisation
The common types of commercialisation.
Innovation Objectives
The common types of innovation objectives with examples.
Thought ProcessesA list of thinking approaches and types.LogicA few logic terms explained.Cognitive BiasesA list of common cognitive biases explained.Abstract Ideas
A few dangers of being too abstract.
Objective vs Subjective
The difference between objective and subjective.
Intellectual DiversityA definition of intellectual diversity with examples.Creative ValueThe definition of creative value with examples.Anecdotal Evidence
The definition of anecdotal evidence with examples.
Benefit Of Doubt
The definition of benefit of doubt with examples.
Pessimism
The definition of pessimism with examples.
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