The Innovation Maturity Index: How Innovative Is Your Company?
The seven levels of innovation maturity, from Inactive to Native, and what separates each stage. Eight slides from Innovation Mode 2.0.
Download the PDFThe Innovation Maturity Index
What's Your Innovation
What's Your Innovation
Maturity Level?
Hover each level on desktop to explore — full descriptions below · Innovation Mode 2.0 (Springer Nature, 2026)
A modern organization's most vital capability is a scalable opportunity discovery, validation, and realization function.
— Innovation Mode 2.0 (Springer Nature, 2026)
The Framework
What Is the Innovation Maturity Index?
The Innovation Maturity Index is a 7-level diagnostic framework that assesses an organisation's ability to systematically discover, validate, and scale innovation. Published in Innovation Mode 2.0 (Springer Nature, 2026), it positions organisations from Level 1 (Innovation-Inactive) to Level 7 (Innovation-Native) — where innovation is fully embedded in every business process and powered by AI.
Unlike traditional capability maturity models such as CMMI or static R&D readiness assessments, the Innovation Maturity Index evaluates six dimensions simultaneously (leadership, organisational design, innovation capabilities, real-world connection, talent and culture, and venture building) through the 6 Innovation Deficits diagnostic. Each level maps to specific interventions from a library of 70+, creating a sequenced transformation roadmap rather than a static score.
The 7 Levels
From Inactive to Innovation-Native
Each level is a named stage with distinct characteristics, risks, and interventions. In our experience, most organisations place themselves a level or two higher than they are. Where does yours actually stand?
1
Inactive
Minimal or no innovation activity.
No innovation agenda, no capabilities, no culture of experimentation. No market reflexes. No mechanism for surfacing or testing new ideas.
Risk: Competitors with innovation systems will outpace you.2
Aware
Innovation exists in rhetoric, not in systems.
Limited innovation activity with no systematic approaches or innovation capabilities. Leadership talks about innovation. No dedicated roles. No measurement. Occasional workshops produce outputs, not outcomes.
Most common level. Most organisations are here — or think they're higher.3
Engaged
Ad-hoc innovation activities and outputs, but no outcomes.
Ideas surface. Hackathons happen. People are enthusiastic. But nothing reaches production. Energy without architecture — activity without a pipeline connecting ideas to business results.
The "innovation theatre" trap.4
Active
An orchestrated innovation function with some outcomes.
Innovation has leadership roles — not yet in the C-suite. A team, a budget, and some structured processes. Real outcomes emerge. But the strategic layer is still missing: no framework, no portfolio approach, no strong market connection.
Innovation is real. Scaling it is the challenge.5
Powered
Strong capabilities, culture, and outcomes.
The innovation function is measured. Culture is strong. Products improve. Opportunity discovery accelerates. But innovation is still led from the centre — not yet native to the edges of the organisation.
Where most strong companies plateau.6
Led
Innovation drives strategy, investments, and decisions.
Innovation at scale. Faster cycles. Stronger market connection. The innovation process is embedded in the core business and runs as one system, from opportunity discovery to market launch, leading the company into new ventures. The Innovation Mode is next.
Innovation has impact. The final step is making it native to how the whole company operates.7
Native: The Innovation Mode
Innovation happens naturally, organically, always-on.
Fully embedded in every business process. AI-powered opportunity discovery and validation. Innovation talent distributed across every team. No separate "innovation initiatives" — it's seamless. The C-level orchestrates; the entire organisation innovates. Autonomous AI systems provide market intelligence and opportunity scoring continuously. This is the mode that market leaders operate in.
The Scaling Gap
Why Most Organisations Plateau at Levels 4–5
Reaching Level 4 (Active) or Level 5 (Powered) is a genuine achievement — real leadership roles, real budgets, real outcomes. But this is where most strong companies stall, and three structural barriers keep them there.
1. Innovation is still centralised, not embedded
At Level 5, innovation works — but it's led from the centre. A dedicated team runs the programmes, orchestrates the workshops, and manages the pipeline. The rest of the organisation participates when invited. The transition to Level 6 requires the opposite: the innovation process embedded in the core business and connected across divisions, groups and labs, so that it runs as one system rather than as a service. Most organisations cannot make this shift because their organisational design treats innovation as a service provided by specialists, not a capability expected of everyone.
2. The venture-building capability is missing
Organisations at Levels 4 and 5 generate ideas, run hackathons, build prototypes and improve existing products. What they rarely do is turn new concepts into new businesses. The Venture Building Deficit — one of the six Innovation Deficits — is the binding constraint: no clear path from validated concept to launched product, no structured handover from innovation teams to product teams, and no capability for rapid MVP development and in-market experimentation. This gap is why stand-alone innovation labs frequently produce impressive prototypes but minimal business impact. Without venture-building infrastructure, promising innovations stall in what Innovation Mode 2.0 calls the "valley of death" between R&D and commercialisation.
3. Measurement tracks activity, not outcomes
At Level 4, innovation is measured — but typically through input metrics: ideas submitted, hackathons run, workshops attended. These vanity metrics create the illusion of progress without connecting innovation to business results. The transition to Level 5 and beyond requires outcome-based measurement: revenue from new products, speed to market, adoption rates, and portfolio impact. Without this shift, leadership cannot justify scaling investment — and innovation remains an activity, not a business driver.
These three barriers are not solved by adding more activity. They require diagnosing where the organisation actually stands, identifying which deficits are most acute, and sequencing the right interventions for the right level — exactly what the Diagnostic and the Corporate Innovation Advisory are designed to do.
Flagship Diagnostic
How Innovative Is Your Company, Actually?
Most maturity assessments rely on leadership self-reporting. In our experience, leadership teams often place their organisation a level or two higher than their people do.
Operating at the wrong perceived level is not an inaccuracy — it is a strategic blind spot. A transformation roadmap calibrated to Level 5 fails predictably when the organisation is actually at Level 3: the interventions don't fit the deficits, budgets get deployed against gaps that don't exist, and the real gaps stay invisible. Most leadership teams discover the gap only when an AI-native competitor lands a product in their core market. By then, the gap is no longer measured in maturity levels — it's measured in market share.
The Innovation Maturity Diagnostic
From Self-Perception to Organisational Truth
A productised diagnostic powered by AI. Calibrated against the 7-level Innovation Maturity Index and the 6 Innovation Deficits framework. Engineered for organisations that need the truth — not a flattering self-portrait.
01
Sample
Structured Cross-Section
Anonymous, structured assessment deployed to a representative sample of your organisation — across levels, functions, and geographies. Captures the perceptions of people closest to innovation work, not just leadership's view from the top.
02
Process
Multi-Dimensional Analysis
Anonymised responses scored across the 6 Innovation Deficits and positioned on the 7-level Innovation Maturity Index. AI-powered analysis identifies patterns, perception gaps, and the specific barriers blocking progression.
03
Deliver
Executive Briefing & Roadmap
A personalised diagnostic report and transformation roadmap, presented in an executive briefing tailored to your leadership team. Specific interventions sequenced by priority — calibrated to your maturity level and deficits.
What You Receive
Multi-Dimensional Maturity Score — your actual position on the 7-level Innovation Maturity Index
Perception Gap Analysis — where leadership view diverges from organisational reality
Innovation Deficits Diagnosis — which of the six are most acute, with evidence
Personalised Intervention Roadmap — sequenced from highest impact, mapped to maturity level
Executive Briefing — 90-minute presentation to your leadership team, on-site or remote
Comprehensive Diagnostic Report — full findings document for board and investor communication
100% anonymised responses
Privacy by design
Encrypted transmission & storage
Processed under the GDPR
Method from Innovation Mode 2.0 (Springer Nature, 2026)
Three weeks. Fixed price.
€12,000, excluding VAT, for the assessment, the executive briefing and the report. The fee counts in full towards the eight-week Corporate Innovation Programme if you continue.
Beyond Measurement
Assessment Is the Basis. The Roadmap Is the Product.
Overclaimed. Undermeasured. Most organisations know they need to innovate — very few can objectively assess where they stand. The Innovation Maturity Index provides the diagnosis. But the real value is what follows: a detailed, sequenced transformation roadmap — 70+ interventions mapped to your actual maturity level, calibrated by the 6 Innovation Deficits diagnostic, and designed to move your organisation to the next level.
The Six Phases of Innovation Transformation
Each phase maps to a specific level transition, with defined entry criteria, interventions, and exit states. The Innovation Masterplan (Chapter 10 of Innovation Mode 2.0) details the full intervention library for each phase.
Phase 1
Power-Up
Inactive → AwareEstablish the foundation. Define the innovation agenda. Appoint executive sponsors. Assemble the initial innovation team. Begin the cultural shift — communicate the vision and set expectations for what innovation means here.
Phase 2
Spark
Aware → EngagedIgnite participation. Launch ideation channels and the first innovation challenge. Introduce problem framing tools and the shared innovation language. Build the community of innovators.
Phase 3
Connect
Engaged → ActiveConnect innovation to business strategy. Establish the opportunity pipeline. Introduce structured experimentation and validation. Link innovation activities to real business outcomes.
Phase 4
Empower
Active → PoweredScale the capability. Establish dedicated innovation leadership at the executive level. Deploy measurement frameworks and innovation KPIs. Build the technology stack — ideation, prototyping, experimentation, AI-assisted discovery.
Phase 5
Scale Up
Powered → LedDrive innovation at scale. Implement portfolio management. Integrate AI-powered opportunity discovery. Build cross-functional innovation teams. Connect outcomes directly to revenue and strategic positioning.
Phase 6
Embed
Led → NativeReach the Innovation Mode. Innovation becomes inseparable from operations. Autonomous AI runs continuous opportunity discovery. Every team innovates. The C-level orchestrates. Innovation is no longer a function — it is how the company operates.
From Diagnostic to Roadmap in 8 Weeks.
A timeboxed advisory engagement that captures your organisation's actual innovation state — using the diagnostic frameworks published in Innovation Mode 2.0.
1
Reflect
Your current state→
2
Understand
Deficits & blind spots→
3
Quantify
Gaps & priorities→
4
Strategise
Your transformation roadmap→
5
Act
Iterate & improveThe output is a concrete, sequenced roadmap: where your organisation stands, what's missing, and exactly what to do next — mapped to the 7-level Innovation Maturity Index and grounded in 70+ interventions from the published methodology.
Learn More
Questions About the Innovation Maturity Index
What is the Innovation Maturity Index?
A 7-level diagnostic framework by George Krasadakis, published in Innovation Mode 2.0 (Springer, 2026). It positions organisations from Innovation-Inactive (Level 1) to Innovation-Native (Level 7) and maps each level to interventions from a library of 70+. Unlike static assessments, it provides a sequenced transformation roadmap calibrated to your organisation's actual maturity.
What are the 7 levels of innovation maturity?
Level 1: Inactive — no innovation activity. Level 2: Aware — rhetoric without systems. Level 3: Engaged — ad-hoc activities, no outcomes. Level 4: Active — orchestrated function, some outcomes. Level 5: Powered — strong capabilities, led from the centre. Level 6: Led — innovation embedded in the core business, leading new ventures. Level 7: Native — fully embedded, AI-powered, always-on. In our experience, most organisations place themselves a level or two higher than they are.
What is Innovation-Native (Level 7)?
The highest level — the Innovation Mode. Innovation is fully embedded in every business process. AI-powered opportunity discovery and validation operate continuously. No separate innovation initiatives — it is seamlessly integrated into essential business processes. The C-level orchestrates; the entire organisation innovates. Innovation talent is distributed across every team.
What are the 6 Innovation Deficits?
Six systemic gaps that prevent organisations from progressing on the Innovation Maturity Index: Leadership Deficit, Organisational Design Deficit, Innovation Capabilities Deficit, Real-World Connection Deficit, Talent and Culture Deficit, and Venture Building Deficit. In our experience, most organisations have at least three. Identified and detailed in Innovation Mode 2.0 (Springer, 2026).
Why do most companies plateau at Level 4–5?
Three structural barriers keep organisations at Levels 4 and 5: innovation remains a centralised service rather than one system embedded in the core business; the Venture Building Deficit keeps new concepts from becoming new businesses, the "valley of death" between R&D and commercialisation; and measurement tracks activity metrics rather than business outcomes like revenue from new products and speed to market.
What is the Innovation Maturity Diagnostic?
A productised diagnostic engagement that surfaces an organisation's actual innovation maturity by surveying a structured cross-section of employees — across levels, functions, and geographies — and processing the anonymised responses through the Innovation Mode framework. Output is a personalised maturity report, perception gap analysis, deficits diagnosis, intervention roadmap, and an executive briefing presented to leadership.
How is the Diagnostic different from a leadership self-assessment?
Leadership self-assessments tend to run high: in our experience, executives often rate innovation capability above what their teams report. The Diagnostic captures perceptions from a representative sample of the workforce — engineers, product managers, operations, mid-management — not just leadership. The most valuable output is often the perception gap: where leadership view diverges from how the organisation actually operates. All responses are anonymised and processed under privacy-by-design principles.
How do you move to the next innovation maturity level?
Innovation Mode 2.0 maps 70+ interventions across six transformation phases: Power-Up, Spark, Connect, Empower, Scale Up, and Embed. Each phase corresponds to a specific level transition with defined entry criteria and exit states. The Corporate Innovation Advisory programme applies these frameworks to your specific organisation in an 8-week engagement, starting with a maturity assessment and delivering a sequenced transformation roadmap.
What is an innovation maturity model?
An innovation maturity model is a diagnostic framework that assesses an organisation's ability to systematically generate, validate, and scale innovation. The Innovation Maturity Index is a 7-level model published by Springer Nature that goes beyond traditional capability assessments by integrating AI readiness, organisational design, culture, and venture-building capability into a single evaluation.
How do you measure innovation capability?
Innovation capability is measured across multiple dimensions: leadership, organisational design, innovation capabilities, real-world connection, talent and culture, and venture building. The Innovation Maturity Index assesses all six dimensions through the Innovation Deficits diagnostic, positioning the organisation on a 7-level scale and identifying specific gaps to address.
Take the Next Step.
Start with the three-week Innovation Maturity Diagnostic, or go straight to the eight-week Corporate Innovation Programme: a playbook and a sequenced 24-month masterplan.
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