Strategic Alliance Magazine Q4 2017 - 18

G I V I N G B I R T H TO I N N OVAT I O N

large industry problems by co-innovating with a large
cross-section of industry participants all at once. The
players collaborate to build a new, and often successful,
start-up," he adds.
For all the buzz about software modeling, apps, and other
electronically based tools, Jan Twombly, CSAP, president
of The Rhythm of Business and a member of the executive management committee at ASAP, recommends a
good old-fashioned book from the innovators at Google
Ventures: Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New
Ideas in Just Five Days. Worth noting, the landmark innovation manual also is available in audiobook and has a

"What is
the art of the
possible?"
--Lorin Coles, CSAP, CEO
and managing director of Alliancesphere

companion volume, Design Sprint: A Practical Guidebook
for Building Great Digital Products.
In an effort to address the ever-changing business landscape, SAS has taken a more collaborative approach with
their partners through the creation of the Managed Analytic Services Provider (MASP) program. "This program
affords partners the opportunity to create a truly differentiated solution for the marketplace," offers Wayne Kennedy,
principal business development specialist at SAS.
The key requirement of the program is the partner's ability
to bring significant IP or value-add to the table. "We don't
just say, 'Here's our software, do what you want with it.'
We want them to meld our software stack with their IP or
value-add to create a truly differentiated solution for their
customers," he adds.
For Lorin Coles, innovation tools are key to 21st Century out-of-the box business problem solving. Partnering
executives should ensure they have thinking, decision,
and action tools at their fingertips that explore novel
frameworks and models and quickly determine their commercial viability. "There are a lot of things you can use to
have people digitally think in the same way, and then do
breakthrough innovation," he notes. These tools "provide
us with common language with shared meaning to help
clarify the ambiguity and help people think about something quickly," he adds.
One of our thinking tools is called the Six Cs, where the
big C is "Context," and everything is built on and around
it. Another thinking tool is the Value Trinity, which helps
companies view the problem from a holistic approach. The
company, customer, and collaborator are positioned within a triangle, and their purpose, strengths, and weaknesses
are identified. "We try to hone in on the value creation of
those three entities," he explains. "It's impossible to truly partner if you are not clear about what you want and
need. ... Everything should be designed and built with the
end-consumer in mind. It's a combination of really looking
at the business problem, consumer, and market opportunity, and thinking about maximizing leverage and influence."
Ultimately, you need to be centering in on one key question with any innovation, he concludes: "What is the art of
the possible?" n
For a tutorial and use-case study on how out-of-the-box
thinking can lead to great ideas, see companion articles on
this topic on Pgs. 20 and 23.

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STRATEGIC ALLIANCE MAGAZINE | Q4 * 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Strategic Alliance Magazine Q4 2017