Does your innovation project have clear objectives? Is the whole team on the same page about what you’re trying to achieve? Is everyone singing from the same song book when describing the project to your stakeholders? Short, sharp objectives that are easy to remember will make it much easier for your team to stay on track. You’ll speed up decision making, and avoid miscommunication when everyone is on the same page. You’re also much more likely to deliver on time, and on budget, when your objectives are crystal clear. This might sound like common sense, but often I work with clients where the objectives are muddy, communication is inconsistent, and decision making is stalled. These are all warning signs of a project that is destined to fail. These failures can often be traced back to ineffective project objectives. This guide covers five critical questions for cooking up your innovation objectives. Are you reviewing your innovation objectives ahead of your next strategy workshop? You can download our guide to the top 10 tips for effective strategy workshops: http://www.zumbara.com.au/strategy-workshop-guide.html

1. 5 critical questions
When cooking up your
innovation objectives

2. Cooking up your innovation objectives
Does your innovation project have clear objectives? Is the whole team
on the same page about what you’re trying to achieve? Is everyone
singing from the same song book when describing the project to your
stakeholders?
Short, sharp objectives that are easy to remember will make it much
easier for your team to stay on track. You’ll speed up decision
making, and avoid miscommunication when everyone is on the same
page. You’re also much more likely to deliver on time, and on budget,
when your objectives are crystal clear.
This might sound like common sense, but often I work with clients
where the objectives are muddy, communication is inconsistent, and
decision making is stalled. These are all warning signs of a project
that is destined to fail. These failures can often be traced back to
ineffective project objectives.

3. Cooking up your innovation objectives
Does your innovation project have clear objectives? Is the whole team
on the same page about what you’re trying to achieve? Is everyone
singing from the same song book when describing the project to your
stakeholders?
Short, sharp objectives that are easy to remember will make it much
easier for your team to stay on track. You’ll speed up decision
making, and avoid miscommunication when everyone is on the same
page. You’re also much more likely to deliver on time, and on budget,
when your objectives are crystal clear.
This might sound like common sense, but often I work with clients
where the objectives are muddy, communication is inconsistent, and
decision making is stalled. These are all warning signs of a project
that is destined to fail. These failures can often be traced back to
ineffective project objectives.
Critical questions
when setting your
project objectives


4. 

5. What are we trying
to get done?
What’s cooking for our next project?

6.  What are we trying to get done?
When you host a barbecue, it’s always a relief to get the main course on the
table, but the night doesn't finish when the food is served. Sure, you want to
serve up the main course at a reasonable hour, without burning the meat.
You also want your guests to enjoy themselves – to enjoy the conversation, the
food, the drink, and the music.
Innovation projects are no different. If you implement a new email system,
it’s great to see the new system go live, and to press “send” on that first
email. The true measure of success though is how people use the new email
system. Is it easy to use? Is it syncing on your phone? Are people reading their
emails? Are people actioning their emails? Are your inboxes overflowing with
spam and cat videos? Is the new system improving productivity or bogging
people down?
Ultimately, your aim will never be solely ‘to put in a new system’. The
outcome will be to increase productivity, time savings, cost savings,
customers, revenue, and so on.

7. 

8. Are we all on the same page?

9.  Are we all on the same page?
Ask around. “What are we trying to get done?” When you have a clear
project aim, you should be hear the same answer from every team member,
and every stakeholder. If different people have different views on what your
project is all about, someone is in for a rude shock.
Translating your project aim into a one-liner will make it much easier to keep
everyone on the same page.
Here are a few examples we prepared earlier:
• Our aim is to automate the sign-up process to reduce costs and improve
customer satisfaction
• Our aim is to automate the sign-up process to reduce risk and close an
audit item
• Our aim is to automate the sign-up process and increase sales

10. How are we eating the elephant?

11. 

12.  How are we eating the elephant?
If you’re going to eat an elephant, there’s only one way to go about it. One
bite at a time. Countless innovation projects fail every year because teams
try to do too much at once.
Break down your project into bite-size chunks. What are the five key things
we need to do, to make this project succeed? These five key things translate
to your project objectives. Keep it manageable by sticking to a maximum of
5-8 project objectives. You can break down each objective into tasks as part
of your planning process, but stick to five key objectives to keep your team
focussed.

13. 

14. Are our objectives crystal clear?

15.  Are our objectives crystal clear?
Setting project objectives is similar to any form of strategic planning or goal
setting. Effective objectives are clear and tangible. the SMART method is
always a good rule of thumb. You want to set objectives that are:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound
S
M
A
R
T

16. Specific
If you set yourself a goal to ‘cook dinner’, that might seem straight forward, but how do
you know your dinner was a success? How do you know it was worth the effort? How do
you plan to make sure you have the right ingredients, tools, and skills to make the
dinner you want?
We all have different tastes, and the reality is you wouldn't be satisfied with just
anything for dinner. You could serve up a charred, dried out, overcooked steak. You'd
be able to say you, ‘cooked dinner,’ but it's unlikely your dinner guests would think the
meal was a success.
If you know your dinner guests love fresh seafood, you might set a more effective, more
specific goal such as to, ‘Cook tasty paella that all my guests love.’ Now you have an
idea of what ingredients you'll need and the quality standard you need to meet.
S

17. Measurable
How much paella do you need to make? If you have 10 guests coming to dinner, but you
only cook enough for four then your meal isn't going to be a success.
It's also extremely important to set quality-related goals. ‘All my guests love it’ isn't
quite a measurable goal, but if you aim for everyone to compliment the meal or come
back for seconds, then you've got two ways to measure quality.
M

18. Achievable
Different people have different approaches to this one. The general consensus, though,
is that the most effective way to set goals is to make objectives that are achievable but
still challenging. Setting your goals to be too easy will not motivate staff.
If your goal is to cook two minute noodles you're not likely to be terribly motivated, nor
will you be particularly looking forward to the resulting reaction from your dinner
guests. You're likely to procrastinate and not put in as much effort to the little things
like setting the table, matching your meal with good wine, choosing the right music to
set the scene (I know, I know, I'm not sure what music and wine would be appropriate
for a two minute noodle dinner party either, but you get the picture).
Setting your goals too high will also cause staff not to be motivated. If you've been
inspired by your favourite TV cooking show and have decided on a croque en bouche or
soufflé for dessert, you're again likely to procrastinate because you don't know where to
start. You may even be thinking, 'What's the point in trying - this is going to be
hopeless.' You'll be so distracted trying to produce this extravagant result that you'll run
out of time to choose the wine, set the table, and find the right mood music.
Sound familiar? You want to set your objectives to stretch your team without breaking
them!
A

19. Relevant
It’s important to make sure your project aims are in sync with where the company is
headed. Demonstrate how your project is helping to achieve your Key Performance
Indicators. It’s also important to make sure each project deliverable is in sync with the
overall project aim.
One common scenario with project objectives is that people may want to add extra
bells and whistles that suit their own needs, but these extras don’t always align to your
project aim. Include these erroneous objectives at your own peril. Focus is critical to
your success, and these will often become dangerous (although sometimes necessary)
distractions.
In The Innovation Recipe we explore the secret sauce of the world’s most innovative
companies. One thing these companies have in common is that they are disciplined and
focussed. They do one thing, it brilliantly, then grow. If you’ve got great ideas that are
distracting from your primary objective, these can always be included in a Phase Two
project after you've achieved your existing objectives.
R

20. Time-bound
Have you ever been at a dinner party, and the conversation is great, everyone’s
enjoying themselves, but the main course isn't served until 11pm? As Stephen Covey
would say, begin with the end in mind.
Setting your deadlines is critical. Here’s an objective we prepared earlier:
‘To cook tasty paella, served up at 8pm, that all my guests love.’
You can then work backwards from your 8pm target and plan your cooking, preparation,
hosting and socialising time to meet your 8pm deadline so that all your guests are
awake to enjoy the main course (and haven't filled up on appetisers or finished off all
the wine while waiting).
T

21. 

22. Are we heading in the right direction?

23. Are we heading in the right direction?
Once you’ve set your aim and objectives, it’s not enough to set and
forget.
It’s important to ask critical questions through the life of your project,
to confirm you’re still on track. That way you can correct your course
as you go, revisiting your objectives if circumstances change, and
ensuring the day to day activities are always in sync with your long
term goals.
It sounds like common sense, but too often project teams get caught
up in the details and fail to identify a shift in direction.
Most project teams are great at tracking whether they are on time and
on budget. It’s equally important to ensure you are in sync with your
objectives and on track to deliver your Return on Investment.

24. The takeaways

What are you trying to get done?
Focus on the outcome.
It’s not just about getting food on the table
 Get on the same page
Equip your team with your one-line project aim
 Eat the elephant one bite at a time
Breakdown your project into five key objectives

Get clear on your objectives
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable,
Relevant, and Time-bound

Regularly take stock
Are you on track to deliver your objectives,
and on track to deliver your Return on Investment

25. Are you reviewing your objectives ahead of your next
strategy workshop? You can download our
20-page Strategy Workshop guide
from our website:
www.zumbara.com.au/strategy-workshop-guide.html

26. Still hungry for more?
For more Innovation Recipe cheat sheets,
articles and guides, or to buy the book:
www.zumbara.com.au