---
title: Top Business Innovation Tools To Maximise Growth
description: "Where are you at with your big ideas? These important tools and evaluation \nmethods will help you overcome challenges and capitalise on business \nopportunities."
---

[Blog - Step Change - Strategy, Leadership, Digital, Creativity](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog)

# [Top Business Innovation Tools To Maximise Growth](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/top-business-innovation-tools)

 Written by [Step Change Marketing](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/author/step-change-marketing) | 19 February 2014

In our last post we looked at some of the big brand companies and how they are leveraging crowd sourcing to improve their business.

In this post we introduce a collection of innovation and evaluation tools that will help you identify opportunities around people, product, process and communication.

## Innovation Tools

If you’re after brainstorm tools we have another book called “**Collaborative Creativity**”.

Visit us here to find out more.

With the following collection of tools we have included one brainstorm tool around innovation called **SCAMPER**.

**SCAMPER** is a checklist of idea-spurring questions.

**To use SCAMPER:**

1. Isolate the challenge or subject you want to think about.
2. Ask questions about each step of the challenge or subject and see what new ideas emerge.

### SCAMPER: An Example:

Think of a spoon

### SCAMPER: Adapt something to it

### SCAMPER: Magnify it

### SCAMPER: Modify it

### SCAMPER: Put it to some other use

### SCAMPER: Eliminate something

### SCAMPER: Reverse it

### SCAMPER: Rearrange it

### Parameter Analysis

Before you innovate you need to know where you’re at. Use this tool to do an audit around what is “fixed”, “flexible” and “inconvenient” around your brand.

### Sensory Overload

### Future Casting Ideas Generation

This tool looks at different origin points for innovation, allowing you to project potential ideas for future commercial gain.

[The Idea Generator](http://drkenhudson.com/books/), Ken Hudson 2007

### Process Review

Consider any processes greater than 2 years old and how they could be radically improved.

### Using Experience to Drive Innovation

This is a technique that is used for innovation steering committees to draw out relevant experiences which can overcome challenges or capitalise on opportunities.

Source: [Young President Organisation](http://www.ypo.org/)

### Innovation Platforms

Use this tool to identify opportunities or areas for your business to innovate in.

### The Phoenix Checklist

The **Phoenix Checklist** is a checklist developed by the CIA to get their agents thinking about ways to solve a problem – great to apply to your business:

#### The Problem

#### The Plan

Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono

## Evaluation Methods

### Potential Impact Plotting

You can use this chart to evaluate the potential impact your idea might have over the short, medium and long term.

### “Yes” Reasons

When assessing innovation it’s important to see what might be possible even though there will undoubtedly be many hurdles and obstacles. This tool helps you predict possible blockades before they occur.

In our next post we'll discuss the advertising cycle and why the emotional mind is so important in the decision making process.

[View full post](https://blog.hellostepchange.com/blog/top-business-innovation-tools)

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