Most organisations are far less immature on innovation than they fear, and far less ready for full ISO 56001 certification than some would like them to believe. A better starting question than 'Should we get certified?' is 'What level of innovation maturity do we actually need?' swiftly followed by 'How can ISO 56001 guide us there without adding overheads and bureaucracy?'
I say this as a contributor to the ISO 56000 series of standards, advisor to the ISO technical committee chair, and convenor and project lead for the new ISO 56011 Competency Framework for Innovation Management. I've spent years helping define the 'gold standard' for innovation, but I still believe many organisations don't need full certification to get most of the benefit.
So rather than jumping straight to a certification project, I'd encourage you to pause and ask a different question: what level of innovation maturity is actually 'good enough' for us right now?
This article introduces a 5-zone innovation maturity model, shows how ISO 56001 can act as a practical compass in each zone, and helps you answer that question for your organisation.
Download the full report as a PDF below.
