How Ideas Find Structure

Understanding the Systems That Make Progress Possible

Innovation is one of those words that carries a lot of promise but very little clarity. We hear it in boardrooms, in strategy decks, in yearly plans. We see it printed on walls and written into values. Yet inside organisations, the reality is very different. People often want innovation, but they don’t always know where to begin, what it requires, or how to recognise it when it’s happening.

Over the years, moving across design, workplace strategy, business operations, and leadership, I came to realise that innovation is not a single act. It is not “a great idea” or “a bold project.” It is a system: a combination of choices, structures, and rhythms that allow an organisation to explore the future while staying grounded in the present.

Across all the projects I’ve worked on, three frameworks consistently surface as the most helpful way to navigate this system. They each describe a different part of the journey:

• Doblin’s 10 Types of Innovation, which helps us understand where innovation can happen

• The Ambidextrous Organisation, which shows how a company balances creativity and efficiency

• The Innovation Funnel, which guides the process from insight to real impact

When used together, they create a foundation that is both clear and human, something teams can understand instinctively, even if they’ve never been trained in “innovation.”

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This article offers a gentle overview of each, not as theory, but as practical lenses that make innovation more approachable.

1. Doblin’s 10 Types of Innovation- Understanding Where Innovation Lives

The first breakthrough for many teams is realising that innovation doesn’t start with ideas. It starts with structure, understanding the different parts of a business where innovation can occur. Doblin’s model maps this out clearly through ten types, grouped into three clusters.

Some of these types live deep in the organisation: how you make money, how you partner, how you organise talent, or how you develop processes. Others live in what you create: the product itself or the ecosystem around it. And the rest live in how people experience what you make, through services, channels, or brand meaning.

What I appreciate about Doblin is that it expands the conversation. It shows that innovation isn’t just “a new tool” or “a new feature.” It might come from a new revenue model, a smarter partnership, a redesigned workflow, or a more meaningful brand story. It encourages leaders to ask richer questions:

• Where are we innovating now?

• Where are we not looking at all?

• What would happen if we combined multiple types into one idea?

Doblin becomes especially valuable when teams feel stuck or overly focused on one dimension of change. It gives them a wider map, one that reveals opportunities hiding in plain sight.

2. The Ambidextrous Organisation - Balancing Today’s Needs With Tomorrow’s Possibilities

Once you understand where innovation can happen, the next question becomes: Can the organisation actually support it? This is where the Ambidextrous Organisation framework becomes essential.

Every company, whether consciously or not, is constantly navigating two opposing forces:

• Efficiency, which keeps the business running safely and predictably

• Exploration, which allows the business to discover what comes next

Both are important. One sustains the present. The other expands the future. The tension appears when one dominates the other. When efficiency becomes absolute, experimentation suffocates. When exploration takes over, operations lose stability.

Ambidexterity introduces a simple truth: innovation and operations must coexist, but they cannot operate under the same rules. Exploration needs autonomy, speed, and psychological safety. Execution needs clarity, process, and reliability. When teams try to blend them into one system, frustration emerges — innovation feels blocked, and operations feel disrupted.

This framework helps leaders design an environment where both energies can breathe. It explains why some pilots never scale, why ideas disappear after the workshop, and why organisations often feel “busy” but not necessarily “innovative.” It invites us to ask: Where do we need efficiency, and where do we need courage?

3. The Innovation Funnel - The Path From Insight to Implementation

If Doblin maps the landscape and ambidexterity describes the internal tension, the Innovation Funnel explains the journey itself. It offers a simple rhythm: first we explore, then we shape, then we build.

The process begins with inspiration, not in the motivational sense, but in the observational one. It’s about seeing patterns, noticing behaviours, and listening deeply. It’s slow, curious work.

From there comes ideation, where possibilities are created, challenged, combined, and tested. Ideas begin to take shape, often in rough and imperfect ways.

Finally, there is implementation, where prototypes become pilots and pilots become systems. This is where ideas must survive constraints, budgets, and reality, and where evidence helps refine the next iteration.

The beauty of the funnel lies in its discipline. It protects teams from jumping straight into solutions and keeps the conversation grounded in what’s meaningful to the people involved.
It reminds us that innovation is not a straight line; it’s a dialogue between understanding and making.

How These Frameworks Work Together

When I work with organisations, I rarely introduce these models separately.
They naturally interlock:

• Doblin helps you understand the terrain: the different places where innovation can emerge.

• Ambidexterity helps you design the internal balance so innovation can survive organisational pressures.

• The Innovation Funnel gives you the practical method to move an idea from observation to impact.

Innovation becomes easier when we stop thinking of it as a destination and start seeing it as a system — one that blends clarity, courage, and craft. These three frameworks offer a shared language that anyone can use, regardless of discipline or seniority.

In the next articles, we’ll explore each model in depth, with diagrams, examples, and practical applications for teams working across design, workplace strategy, technology, and business transformation.

Let’s continue the journey.