The Corporate Talk

By Carolina Porto Frodl | Published on The Corporate Talk

“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”
— Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Innovation is essential. But innovating with strategy, structure, and measurability is what truly separates high-performing companies from reactive ones.

In this article, I share the key insights from a class I taught on innovation portfolios and performance indicators—a topic every modern organization needs to master to turn ideas into results.

Why Portfolios Matter

An innovation portfolio is much more than a list of projects. It’s a bridge between vision and execution. A system designed to:

• Organize and prioritize initiatives
• Balance risk and return
• Allocate resources intentionally
• Reduce uncertainty while scaling ideas

In essence, your portfolio is a strategic filter that translates ambitions into concrete, trackable actions.

The Intuition Trap

Many companies still rely heavily on gut feeling to choose which ideas move forward. But here’s the truth:

Without indicators, you’re just hoping it works.

If you want to know whether you’re on the right path (aligned to your company strategy), you need to measure.

How to Build an Innovation Portfolio

1. Start with Strategy

Every innovation initiative should answer a clear question:
What is our strategic ambition?

• Do we want to lead in a specific technology?
• Grow revenue in existing markets?
• Be the fastest or most efficient player?
• Enter entirely new sectors?

Your answer will shape everything that follows.

2. Collect and Evaluate Ideas with Intention

Great ideas can come from anywhere—spontaneous submissions, internal challenges, or strategic research. But volume isn’t value. You need clear criteria to decide which ideas deserve attention.

Questions to ask:

• Is it new to the company?
• Does it align with our strategy?
• Is the concept clear and feasible?
• Is there market demand?
• Do we have internal capabilities to deliver?
• Is the risk/return ratio worth it?

3. Manage Projects with Structure

Every project needs to move through maturity stages. And each stage deserves a tailored level of investment and decision-making.

Useful tools include:

• RWW (Harvard): Is it Real? Is it Worth it? Can we Win?
• TRL / IRL models: Assessing readiness of tech, market, team, IP, and financing
• Gated processes: Structured checkpoints to advance, pivot, or stop projects

Start by investing time—not money.

4. Governance and Reporting That Drives Action

An innovation portfolio isn’t truly managed unless it’s governed. That means:

• Appointing sponsors
• Formalizing the process
• Defining clear KPIs
• Holding regular (e.g. quarterly) reviews with decision-makers

Pro tip: Don’t just email a report.
Schedule conversations. Share insights. Shape culture.

Also consider creating two versions of your reporting:

• An internal dashboard for leaders
• A simplified, shareable version to boost visibility across the organization

Metrics That Matter

Forget vanity metrics. Start with the right questions for each phase of your innovation pipeline:

Innovation Stage	Key Business Question
Strategy	What’s the size of this opportunity?
Idea Generation	Is there real demand?
Project Development	Do we have the right technology/team?
Execution	What’s the expected ROI/payback?

Your metrics should speak the language of decision-makers and investors—and they should evolve as projects progress.

Final Tip

Before applying any model, tool, or KPI set, take a step back and reflect on your company’s culture. There’s no universal solution. The best innovation portfolios are:

• Tailored
• Thoughtful
• Consistently managed

Give a comment and tell us: How is your organization managing innovation today?

Carolina Porto Frodl
Innovation Management Expert with 19+ years in transformation in Banking, Aerospace, Polymers and Automotive industries.