All innovation processes can be mapped into a standardized map where they are analyzed compared and learned from. Past innovation efforts -- whether successful or not -- are the best teacher for innovation to come.
The 'black forest' reality of innovation makes it difficult to allocate resources in a rigid plan, the way project managers like to work. The key to successful innovation is smart, flexible, and responsive allocation of the resources at hand.
Innovation has a clear starting point, and a clear success point, but at any time in between the measure of progress is hard to determine. Yet it is important to determine in order to draw rational decisions to accelerate the innovation process.