Seven Sources Inventory

In his seminal book, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Peter Drucker outlined seven "windows" of innovation. We have developed an inventory that uncovers important opportunities for innovation—opportunities too frequently overlooked—by looking at the organization through each of those seven windows. We call our specialized approach to assessment the Seven Sources Inventory. It identifies key opportunities with the greatest potential for substantial innovation, while recognizing elements that ought to be consistently sustained.

Like conventional strategic planning, the inventory identifies key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) but frames them all as opportunities for innovation. Through group interviews that probe in each of these seven areas, we systematically uncover profitable opportunities for innovation. The inventory can be undertaken at various scales, from a few interviews to many. Even one initial ninety-minute interview with key people normally identifies compelling opportunity.

The inventory can be used for project assessment or for assessing the whole organization. It is most useful when used as an ongoing instrument to identify and track opportunities for purposeful change. The inventory leaves no stone unturned. It sheds fresh light and reveals a clearer understanding of important opportunities for innovation.