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When one thinks of innovation, Google is usually the benchmark to compare against. Innovation is reflected in their culture, where they have a process that encourages collaboration, rewards ideas, moves ideas forward, and then capitalizes on these ideas. Their mission:  “Through innovation and iteration, we aim to take things that work well and improve upon them in unexpected ways.”

If you analyze their business portfolio, 90% of revenue comes from their mature businesses, AdWords and AdSense, which are not that innovative. Yet, they are known for their rapidly growing products: Android, Glass, driverless car and a number of other innovative products. In order to launch and divest 10-15 projects a year, they have developed a process that includes:

     1.  Creating an exploratory culture;

     2.  Considering a large number of ideas…where they can make a difference;

     3.  Using rigorous deep analytics to select where to invest ;

     4.  Continuously monitoring the health;

     5.   Keeping speed in mind with each release.

How does your organization benchmark against Google’s innovation?