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Submitting your proposal!
The deadline is this week- Friday November 23rd by midnight EST. We are very excited to see your proposals and begin the judging that will lead to the 4 finalists and the ideas eligible for peer voting and the coveted 5th finalist spot.
To Submit the proposal all you need to do is email the completed template (available here http://www.rbc.com/innovator/innovators_tips.html) in Word format to nextgreatinnovator@rbc.com. Please include the executive summary and all appendices in one document; no need to send multiple files.
Don’t forget to have a look at the last blog entry for proposal tips and if you have any final questions email them to nextgreatinnovator@rbc.com.
Making your proposal the best!
I know all the Challenge Innovators have fantastic ideas on the go as we enter the last week before the November 23rd submission deadline. It’s time to pull together your great ideas, research and creativity to craft a proposal which really stands out! As promised, here’s a BIG blog entry with some helpful tips for your proposal. These tips will provide you with information you can use again for future projects. Many thanks to last year’s Innovation Blogger, Nelson T., for setting up many of the tips you are about to read - they really paid off for last year’s finalists and are worth repeating.
General Tips:
• Have one editor. If team members write separate sections of the proposal, having one editor will ensure a more consistent tone.
• Make sure all the sections link. This may sound simple, but all the sections should be linked and tell a consistent “story.” The executive summary should be a true and concise summary of what the reader would get out of the proposal if they read the whole thing. (More notes on the executive summary further on.)
• State the conclusion or benefit in the body of the proposal and put the evidence in the appendix. For example: “Innovation ABC will reduce cost of client acquisition by head by $X.XX (Appendix A) and increase average revenue per client by $Y.YY (Appendix B).”
• Have a non-team member critically read the proposal and give real feedback. It would be even better if you can have an expert reader and a reader unfamiliar with the realm of your innovation. If they both understand your message, you are in good shape! I know it may be a time crunch to finish the proposal, but that one extra round of editing and input could make all the difference in getting your GREAT idea to the finals. From personal experience, this cost me a grade on one of my final school projects and taught me a very valuable lesson.
• Read and re-read your proposal to cut down excessive prose. You would be amazed how many excess words we use when we are excited about something. There are ways to shorten the message.
For example: The previous sentence started as:
“You can often find various ways to shorten your messages” and became
“There are often ways to shorten the message” then finally
“There are ways to shorten the message. “
The “So What” Methodology:
I learned this from a brilliant Strategy professor: challenge every conclusion you have by imagining a Sr. Executive, VC or Strategist asking “So What?". After all, they are only interested in what your Innovation will do for them; that is, what value it creates. If you only have a weak answer to "So What?" you will need to rephrase your delivery or change the strategic angle. If a conclusion or argument can stand the “So What” question, then there is definitely value in it. (I still hear that prof’s voice in my head all the time - just like Obi Wan Kenobi!)
“The Whole is Greater than the Sum of the Parts:”
To impress the judges, your final submission must score well against the evaluation criteria listed in the Rules & Regulations http://www.rbc.com/innovator/innovators_rules.html. Don’t forget it must all link and be consistent. But here are some section by section pointers:
Don’t skimp on the executive summary. It’s a small fraction of your submission in terms of length, but the executive summary plays a pivotal role in capturing the interest and enthusiasm of the judges. It should read as a stand-alone section summarizing the entire submission. It should compel a judge to plow into the rest of the proposal. Keep in mind judges will be reviewing your submission alongside many others so the executive summary is your opportunity to show them your idea is preferable. If it doesn’t communicate the essence of your proposal, then your summary has missed the mark.
Provide evidence when describing influential client traits. The key to this section is evidence. If you make claims about any client, process or result you must back them up. Without evidence, you are asking the judges to trust you blindly. If you provide supporting data (in the appendices) judges will understand your stance and your claims will be difficult to dispute. If you make predictions, base them on early indicators that suggest clear trends.
Explain the benefits of your proposed idea or innovation. This is the heart of the submission and the section that judges weight most heavily. Insight into any client group or business process will not amount to much unless you suggest a course of action leading to results. Present your idea clearly and explain why it’s a good one. Focus on the benefits to customers and the organization in terms of “how it makes it easier to do business with us.” Make sure it connects logically with the previous section.
Anticipate potential concerns in your implementation plan. There are a million reasons not to innovate. Great ideas get delayed or abandoned, often for fear of failure. To “create new dimensions of performance” can mean taking a plunge and the status quo is hard to shake loose. Use this section to address resistance to your idea by anticipating issues that skeptics might raise and providing answers. Show the judges that you recognize the associated challenges and that you have plans to deal with them. State the top level defense in this section with the further evidence in the appendices.
Exploit the Appendices. Submissions must be in Microsoft Word format and no longer than 2,500 words. That doesn't leave a lot of room for creative license. What if you design a Flash animation to illustrate your spectacular new business process? What if you think a video is the best way to demonstrate a new method of serving clients? Where do you put the insightful financial projections that back up your Innovation? These are completely legitimate questions, especially for a competition about innovation.
There is a way to include such material in your final entry. The Rules & Regulations allow appendices directly related the innovation with no restrictions on the format or length. If you have unique material to bolster your submission, put it in an appendix. This allows you to state the top level conclusions and outcomes clearly in the body of the proposal and refer to the support in the appendix- but only include material in an appendix that is referenced in the proposal (orphan or random exhibits confuse your message).
Finally, don’t be shy when it comes to originality and creativity. Remember this is an Innovation Challenge, not just an ordinary case analysis. It’s about connecting the possible to what is valuable and creativity can be just as important (if not more so) than pages and pages of financial projections. Judges will be looking for originality and creativity at every turn. If your idea is truly innovative, don’t be afraid to shout it from the roof tops. Get their attention! You are the sole advocates for your idea and your submission is the only vehicle you can use to influence the judges.
Choice plus easy delivery equals Innovation (And a competitor BONUS)
Just in case any registered Challenge competitors have not yet checked their email, yesterday we announced that all students who submit a complete proposal by the November 23rd deadline will receive a $50 GIFTPASS! We know that you’re all working hard on your proposals and have your eyes on the top prize, but once your team has sent your proposal enjoy a treat on us!
What is GIFTPASS?
GIFTPASS is a gift certificate that is redeemable for original merchant gift certificates at Giftcertificates.ca. This Innovative way of delivering gift certificates gives you the freedom to select the gift certificates from national retailers, restaurants, hotels and entertainment providers that YOU want.
Why do I think this is Innovative?
I have a soft spot for innovations in retail. I like the GIFTPASS concept since it puts choice in the hands of the receiver where traditional gift certificates are chosen by the giver. ("Gee Aunt Lou, thanks for the gift certificate to the discount yarn barn. That's, um, great...") Add to this the GIFTPASS total can be broken up between different participating merchants. It is supplied by a single aggregating company, instead of coming from separate merchants (no doubt the aggregator is being paid for shifting the value chain). Finally, the GIFTPASS can be delivered electronically, so it’s immediate and hard to lose! It’s a simple idea, but all in it radically changes the traditional gift certificate model.
Check back tomorrow for the "big" entry on making your proposal really stand out!
The pulse of Innovation
Today I’d like to answer one big question and then a few more Challenge specific ones.
A great question has come to me while talking about the Challenge. “Where do I look for the latest Innovations?” Off the bat I can say I have one terrific resource- the Applied Innovation team here at RBC. All of our team members come from different backgrounds so we all audit different sources of ideas or information. We also meet regularly to discuss our ongoing projects and share interesting discoveries. All of us post diligently to our own internal information and process management system keeping the team up to speed and creating an open flow of information across projects and domains of interest/expertise. Not to mention all the fabulous input we get from all our partners, both inside the enterprise and from vendors.
In addition to general reading I “audit” innovations in marketing, retail, CRM/ERP, mobility and these day web 2.0. I have several newsfeeds and belong to a number of technology and process groups which allow custom subscription to white papers in my areas of interest. These associations are a carry over from working for innovative companies in those industries, providing great insight that can be ported into Financial Services.
Until you’ve narrowed down your interests here are some good general sources:
Google news alerts:
http://www.google.com/alerts
It may sound very “2003” but I love my daily feed from Google; simply for "Innovation". It gives me a broad spectrum report from around the world and 3 or 4 solid blogger perspectives each day. Of course setting the Google alert for "innovation + subject of your choice" will give you a more specific scope. I also have an alerts set for "Strategy" and "Innovation + Strategy" and find great material when the 3 feeds overlap.
Harvard:
http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/
hbsp/resource_centers/innovation_entrepreneurship.jsp
It’s Harvard, what more is there to say?
Moore’s blog:
http://geoffmoore.blogs.com/my_weblog
Geoffrey Moore of "Crossing the Chasm" fame; keep up on what the master of pitching Innovation is thinking.
The CBC:
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/
The CBC does a fantastic job of staying ahead on science and technology. Often I see items here first and even better that they have a Canadian perspective.
Fark.com
http://www.fark.com/geek/
This is one of the oldest and most successful user generated aggregate news sites. It is a little random as to the subject range, but I always get a smile from the extra comments the “farkers” add to the headlines. The /geek page deals with news stories on technology and science. And you can always flip over to the show business news!
Here are some other blogs and aggregation sites:
http://thebankwatch.com/
http://www.innosight.com/blog/index.php?/categories/13-Financial-Services
http://www.roughtype.com/index.rdf
http://www.innovationtools.com/index.asp
http://www.getfreshminds.com/2007/10/here-are-a-few-.html
Now I have a few new and astute Challenge questions to answer:
Thought starters vs. the submission template
Teams have been asking about a clarification on the difference between some of the areas to consider on the website and the template. The “Thought Starters” http://www.rbc.com/innovator/innovators_challenge.html (starting with "Trends") are exactly that- some suggested areas you should examine as you decide what innovative ideas have value and what value they have. The template is meant to be the repository of your conclusions drawn from all the areas you may have examined, combined with the most compelling supporting points, so the template is much more streamlined. The appendixes are a great place to put the supporting information you have drawn out and collected.
Here are 3 other good questions which have come in recently:
Q) Are there constraints we need to be aware of? i.e. cost constraints
A) No set constraints, but in any proposal you will have to be sure that value or return is significant. Keep in mind that a regular challenge to those of us who have to pitch innovations is to come up with very compelling arguments, matched to the audience, to gain significant financial commitments! Check our Moore’s “Crossing the Chasm” for examples of exactly that.
Q) Rather than creating a brand new business process or financial product, our team is heading in the direction to create synergy with existing RBC products, we are just wondering if we are heading on the right direction?
A) That direction is fine. Innovations often come from creating synergies where others have missed an opportunity, creating new and game changing strategic directions. This can be very exciting actually. And remember the Challenge is about all Financial Service providers, so don’t feel you have to stick to RBC offerings only.
Q) There are certain data that are not available on the resources, are we allowed to conduct primary research?
A) The resources listed on this website are only a few suggestions to get teams started- feel free to go beyond them. Primary research is fantastic. It often can be the support which transforms a good idea into a great one. And don't forget as long as you are clear as to why you made them, assumptions are OK in this sort of proposal too. I would advise team focus on the conclusions in the body of the proposals and push the supporting evidence into the appendices.
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