# How (and why) to boost your corporate innovation process in times of crisis

> How and why to accelerate innovation in times of crisis: I recently had the pleasure to speak to Really Good Innovation in their first online innovation summit, where I shared my thoughts on ‘innovation in times of crisis’. In this blog post, I am presenting the summary points and the actual deck as presented in the Innovation Summit.

- Author: [George Krasadakis](https://theinnovationmode.com/george-krasadakis)
- Published: 2020-12-21, updated 2026-10-06
- Topic: [Corporate innovation](https://theinnovationmode.com/the-innovation-blog/topic/corporate-innovation)
- Source: https://theinnovationmode.com/the-innovation-blog/innovation-in-times-of-crisis

![How (and why) to boost your corporate innovation process in times of crisis](https://theinnovationmode.com/media/blog/innovation-in-times-of-crisis/innnovation-in-the-era-of-lockdown-1500w.webp)

#### *I recently had the pleasure to speak to RGI in their first online Innovation Summit, where I shared my thoughts on ‘managing innovation in times of crisis’. Here are the summary points.*

## **Why invest in innovation during times of crisis?**

**1. To increase your opportunity discovery bandwidth. **The world is changing rapidly and the ability to spot high-potential innovation opportunities, early enough, becomes a survival trait for businesses.

**2. To improve the ‘state of mind’ of your company. **Innovation can strengthen the connection among employees and teams, it can fix the morale, the shared attitude.

![The key elements and actors for corporate innovation process during lockdown.](https://theinnovationmode.com/media/blog/innovation-in-times-of-crisis/innnovation-in-the-era-of-lockdown-diagram-1500w.webp)
*The key elements and actors for **corporate innovation process **during lockdown.*

## **How to empower the innovation process in times of crisis?**

1. **Make the innovation process more **‘**available’. **Provide all the innovation resources via digital means; make your innovation channel always on.

2. **Make the innovation process more **‘**flexible’. **Remove bureaucracies; Make your [corporate innovation](https://theinnovationmode.com/what-is-corporate-innovation) process simpler, faster, and asynchronous.

3. **Ensure your innovation process is **‘**purposeful’. **Connect innovation with the purpose of your organization; **innovate with a purpose**.

4. **Increase the **‘**bandwidth’ of your innovation process. **Enable the company to spot and evaluate more innovation opportunities, faster.

> *But how to drive the above improvements?*

## 1. Reflect your innovation process through a **digital home for innovation**: **The Innovation Portal**.

- **Present the Innovation process, the context, and the innovation Calendar. **Your purpose, big problems, and ideas along with a timeline for your innovation activities and plans.
- **Provide a digital toolkit for your corporate innovation process**. Innovation tools, templates, and services that empower people to innovate with digital means — while working remotely.
- **Diffuse Innovation Knowledge. **The output of your innovation process, along with training material, innovation stories, and a ‘Gateway’ to the ‘community of innovators’
- **Provide Access to Innovation Assets. **A demo space for innovation artifacts — where people can discover innovation deliverables — prototypes, designs, case studies, experiments - all the innovation assets you produce in your innovation process.

**Check also**: [The Innovation Culture Defined: What it is and How to Develop it.](https://theinnovationmode.com/the-innovation-blog/the-innovation-culture-defined-what-it-is-and-how-to-develop-it)

## 2. **Emphasize the innovation message**: Innovation is the means to achieve a bold purpose

- **Review your innovation purpose. **Ensure that your purpose is still relevant; re-frame it as needed to reflect the new order of things. Adjust your innovation process.
- **Communicate the purpose. **Explain how your innovation program and your flexible innovation process can help to better serve this purpose.
- **Set the Innovation Agenda. **Create the Corporate Innovation Agenda — the focus areas for innovation and how they are linked to the organizational purpose; along with problems worth solving and high-potential ideas waiting for further exploration. Make it the cornerstone of your innovation process.

## 3. Establish **a stream of problems **worth solving

- **Adjust your innovation process to handle problem submissions**: Innovation is **not (only) about **ideas. Adjust your innovation process to also welcome ‘problems worth solving’. Invite people to innovate, also by submitting [problem statements](https://theinnovationmode.com/problem-statement-template); Add ‘problem submission’ to the innovation gamification scheme
- **Handle ‘Problems’ as ‘innovation assets’**. Expand your innovation process to allow regular evaluation and prioritization of problems — based on their importance and relevance to your innovation strategy.
- **Establish a Backlog of Problems**. Make the problem backlog visible via the Innovation Portal — an ongoing ‘call to innovate’ where people can discover important, prioritized problems that need great solutions.

## 4. Establish **an always-on ideas channel**

- **Make Idea Submission ‘always-on, accessible by all’. **Make your ideation process available to all, at any time: Encourage people to share any idea, in or out of context. Ensure there is a prompt and meaningful response.
- **Make it Self-Service. **Introduce a simple ideation process > submit & discover ideas through the Innovation Portal. Initiate ‘Lightweight [Hackathons](https://theinnovationmode.com/hackathons)’ and ideation sessions. Simplify and streamline not only ideation but your entire innovation process.
- **A model for ideas**. Provide innovation templates - for ideas, problems, [product concepts](https://theinnovationmode.com/product-concept-template): Help people articulate their ideas, or product concepts and features. Provide ideation event templates: Standardize the ‘idea generation events’- e.g. brainstorming. Help people organize ideation events remotely, using digital means.

## 5. Establish an always-on **opportunity discovery panel**.

- **Perform regular reviews — evaluate problems and ideas**. Establish a regular review program as part of your innovation process: a panel with the right experts, to evaluate and prioritize problems and ideas; based on objective criteria. The goal is to provide the tools to spot more high-potential ideas, faster.
- **Set up an action plan - incorporate it into your innovation process. **A high-potential idea; then what? The team must be able to trigger the right process and forward ideas to the right teams/ stakeholders to take action, immediately.
- **Educate your innovators**. Adopt an educational attitude: Provide constructive feedback to innovators; act as innovation mentors. Ensure that the innovation process is visible and fully understood. Reflect your innovation process through a simple innovation playbook.

Check also the [Innovation Toolkit](https://theinnovationmode.com/innovation-toolkit): eight editable templates for framing problems, shaping ideas and defining products.

#### [Download the ‘Innovation in the Era of Lockdown Deck’ (PDF)](https://theinnovationmode.com/media/files/innovation-in-the-era-of-lockdown.pdf)

![A presentation explaining how - and why - companies should empower innovation in times of crisis.](https://theinnovationmode.com/media/blog/innovation-in-times-of-crisis/innovation-in-the-era-of-lockdown-1500w.webp)

[Download the Deck](https://theinnovationmode.com/media/files/innovation-in-the-era-of-lockdown.pdf)