Unlocking Innovation Through Collaboration, Data and Outcome-Driven Thinking

Innovation today is less about technology for its own sake and more about finding smarter, faster and more effective ways to deliver outcomes. Whether in corporate, public or not-for-profit environments, organisations that innovate well share a common pattern: they collaborate early, use data intelligently, and focus on outcomes rather than rigid requirements.

Innovation becomes practical and achievable when organisations rethink how they work with partners, suppliers and internal teams.

Why Traditional Approaches Limit Innovation

Many organisations want to innovate but remain held back by legacy methods: siloed working, rigid scoping, limited supplier engagement and insufficient data. Research supports this:

• 70% of digital transformation efforts fall short due to siloed processes and unclear problem framing (McKinsey).

• Only 23% of organisations believe they excel at early stakeholder engagement, despite its known impact on innovation outcomes (PwC Innovation Benchmark Report).

Innovation struggles to take hold when teams work in isolation and suppliers are engaged too late to influence design.

Collaboration as the Catalyst for Innovation

The organisations delivering true innovation are the ones collaborating earlier and more effectively. This includes:

• Early market engagement

• Co-design with suppliers

• Exploring alternative models before defining the “how”

• Sharing ownership of challenges and solutions

Global studies reinforce this: Deloitte’s Human Capital Trends report notes that cross-functional collaboration increases innovation success rates by up to 60%. This mirrors the co-design and supplier partnership approach your presentation emphasises as a core enabler of new ideas.

When suppliers are treated as value partners, not just responders to specifications, they contribute insight, creativity and lived experience that organisations cannot generate internally.

Data: The Engine Behind Modern Innovation

Innovation is not just creative, it's informed. Data enables organisations to:

• Identify emerging trends

• Spot unmet needs or inefficiencies

• Understand market and supplier capabilities

• Predict opportunities, risks and demand patterns

• Make evidence-based decisions about where innovation is most valuable

Research by BCG shows that data-driven organisations innovate twice as fast as peers and achieve up to 30% higher impact from innovation investments.

This connects directly to your “Turning Data Into Strategic Advantage” messaging: innovation accelerates when insights from finance, operations, procurement, suppliers and external sources are connected and actionable.

Shifting the Conversation: From Requirements to Outcomes

One of the most powerful enablers of innovation is reframing the problem. Instead of defining how a solution must be delivered, leading organisations define:

• The outcome they want

• The value they are seeking

• The problem they need to solve

• The impact they want to achieve

According to Bain & Company, outcome-based models can increase solution quality and speed by up to 40%, because they give suppliers and partners the freedom to propose new approaches, technology, or delivery models.

Outcome-based procurement, challenge-based sourcing, and flexible contracting approaches are essential tools for enabling innovation to take shape in real-world environments.

Making Innovation Practical, Not Abstract

Innovation rarely comes from big-bang transformation programs. Instead, it emerges through clear outcomes, early collaboration, fast learning cycles, data-supported insights and iterative design. When organisations build strong partnerships with suppliers and embed a mindset of continuous improvement, innovation becomes a natural part of how work gets done rather than an occasional initiative. This approach aligns with the principles of co-design: discover, design, deliver, evaluate and improve, a proven methodology used by high-performing organisations around the world to turn ideas into meaningful, scalable impact.

Conclusion: Innovation Comes From Working Differently

Innovation becomes real when organisations bring the right people together early, use data to inform decisions, and design solutions with, and their partners.

The organisations achieving the best results today are the ones that:

• Collaborate openly

• Engage suppliers early

• Use insights to guide decisions

• Focus on outcomes, not specifications

• Create space for experimentation

• Scale what works

By embracing these principles, organisations can turn ideas into impact, delivering smarter, faster

and more meaningful outcomes for their customers, communities and stakeholders.