Innovation is no coincidence. It emerges where people are allowed to think differently and where processes intentionally bring those perspectives together.
What Makes a Good Innovation Process?
Neurodiversity fuels innovation potential. A good innovation process creates space for ideas, structures them systematically, and transforms them into tangible improvements. That might involve product development, service optimisation, or organisational structures – essentially anywhere new ideas can take root.
Phase 1: Building the Foundation with Idea Management
Principle 1: Making Ideas Visible and Building Psychological Safety
All ideas deserve to be heard. That alone increases diversity, as we humans tend to prefer agreement over dissent. But when it comes to innovation, that’s precisely the wrong instinct. This is where we need to find something new.
New means different. And different challenges our sense of belonging. To reduce this (often unconscious) barrier, we need an environment of psychological safety. Without it, the best ideas remain unspoken and therefore invisible.
To make visibility less a matter of chance, it helps to:
- establish clear time frames or scope for idea sharing
- create an easy, accessible collection point
- offer multiple formats (spoken/in meetings vs written, synchronous vs asynchronous)
Principle 2: Communicating Clearly and Fostering Mutual Understanding
Every idea should be understood not just expressed. Communication always involves two roles: sender and receiver. As a sender, I aim to speak clearly and precisely. As a receiver, I focus on asking clarifying questions. Curiosity and open-mindedness are key.
In larger organisations, not everyone needs to have a say in every topic. Still, mutual understanding remains a crucial factor.
Firstly, because it acts as a filter: Can at least one other person follow this idea? If not, it may need to be archived.
Secondly, because it inspires. How many ideas truly arise in isolation? It may happen. But more often, ideas evolve in conversation, as we build upon each other’s thoughts. Sometimes, the solution to one problem unexpectedly helps solve another.
Principle 3: Separate Understanding from Evaluation
Learning to separate understanding from judgement is a mental skill – and one worth practising. Once we’ve mastered it, innovation potential can truly take off.
Why? Because real innovation often comes from the “crazy” idea.
How often have you heard (or said): “But that’s how we’ve always done it.” or “It would fit us much better if we did it this way.”?
Both statements trigger a normalisation process which sounds safe, but is fatal for innovation. The more diverse the ideas, the broader the pool, and the greater the chance of discovering something genuinely new.
Idea management lays the foundation for the rest of the innovation process. Cutting potential here hurts the most.
That’s why we not only separate evaluation from understanding we also apply a clear structure for what comes next: Phase 2.
Phase 2: Evaluating Ideas Fairly and Strategically
Using Topic Clusters to Find Relevance and Focus
Key themes are like the centre of a mind map: they help connect related ideas and make information easier to grasp. Similar ideas can branch from common stems, while new or unique ideas can be highlighted.
Naming these clusters is a strategic task. It’s often worth defining them collaboratively to ensure long-term consistency and clarity.
Relevance Scoring: Structured Criteria for Innovation Success
Daniel Kahneman demonstrated how strongly our decisions are influenced by unconscious bias – and why structured evaluation criteria are essential to ensure fairness in innovation. (See his book “Thinking, Fast and Slow”.)
In practice: define three or more evaluation criteria, and create multiple guiding questions for each, which can be rated on a relative scale.
What do you use to assess ideas? This will vary from company to company.
Common criteria often include content relevance (linked to your topic clusters), strategic significance, alignment with company values, and sustainability.
How Evaluation Becomes Inspiration – Not Frustration
Ideas should be open to addition, not deletion. Instead of overwriting, place new thoughts alongside existing ones.
Digital systems can help track this evolution automatically, but even a simple, well-structured, and accessible database can do the job.
Ideas should also be shared regularly. It can be valuable, for instance, to have monthly exchange sessions to present new ideas, or to conduct an annual review of your entire idea landscape. This is an ideal time to choose which ideas move forward to the next phase of the innovation process.
Doing this together strengthens shared ownership and motivation. And when teams take time to tidy up their idea space, the results tend to stick twice as easily.
Through this process, ideas become practical, living elements of everyday work much more likely to find their way into real-world development.
Once the most promising ideas are identified, the creative implementation begins: Phase 3.
Phase 3 – The First Creation: Design Thinking & Use Cases
Mapping the Journey from Problem to Solution
An idea has now been described, understood, evaluated, and selected. Sometimes, several ideas combine to form a complete solution.
Both the problem and the solution are key in Design Thinking. In a playful, structured process, potential solutions are explored before any implementation begins, saving both time and resources.
These exercises are often time-boxed. By the end, you should achieve:
- a clearer understanding of the starting situation → more precise problem definition
- a sharper picture of the target vision → concrete requirement description
- insights into how to bridge the gap from current state to goal → valuable learnings
Phase 4 – The Second Creation: Prototyping
Why Real-World Testing Beats Perfect Planning
This is where things get tangible. After all the groundwork, the goal now is to gather real-world experience quickly.
A small MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is ideal – the simplest possible version that still makes sense.
From Phase 3, we already know what attributes this MVP needs to meet, thanks to the clarified target vision.
Iterative Testing: Learning through Agile, Feedback-Driven Development
Does the MVP work? Do the market, target group, or organisation respond as expected?
A “no” may sound discouraging, but it’s better to find out early. At this stage, adjustments are easier or a new direction can be taken entirely. Failure is part of innovation.
Agile work thrives on iterative development, and this is where it shines. Early and regular feedback shortens the path from idea to success. Like signposts, each round of feedback offers valuable direction.
And if the answer to those earlier questions is “yes”, feedback becomes an even greater accelerator. After all, project success is driven by customer satisfaction. Knowing what customers truly want in a given context carries any project further than assumptions ever could.
Why Does a Neurodiversity Coach Write About Innovation Processes?
What does all this have to do with neurodiversity? More than you might think.
Neurodiversity: The Hidden Engine of Innovation
There’s a deep connection between the two topics. Here’s a short overview of a few examples:
- Diverse ways of thinking, such as those found among different neurotypes, generate more potential solutions – and increase the likelihood of genuine innovation.
- Conscious communication fosters psychological safety and is a key factor in retaining neurodivergent talent. (source)
- Neurodivergent specialists often excel in specific innovation contexts: some (for example, those with ADHD) thrive when creating novel solutions, while others (for example, those with autism) perform best in fast-changing yet clearly structured environments.
Psychological safety benefits everyone. But in the context of innovation management, it’s also the cornerstone of turning inclusion into a business advantage.
I’m Monika, founder of Flow by Wolff, and my mission is to help make working environments stable and human-centred.
In an age of AI agents, raw workforce quantity is no longer a competitive advantage. What matters now is integrating human experience and idea diversity into an ongoing innovation process. This not only equips organisations to adapt to future change – it empowers them to shape their niche today.
Idea diversity is no accident. It’s the outcome of a culture that celebrates difference. And that’s where true innovation begins.