Innovation used to be an intuitive undertaking (and still is, in some circles). But we believe that innovation is a science, not an art, as does Peter Drucker, one of the most influential business thinkers of recent history, who said, "Innovation is the specific tool the means by which you exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service. It is capable of being presented as a discipline, capable of being learned, capable of being practiced." ^[18] We believe the process of innovation can be learned, integrated into a company, and used to deliver solutions that eliminate problems and change how people behave.

If you conceive of innovation as solving customer problems, then you can agree with G. Polya, who said, "Solving problems is a practical skill like swimming. We acquire any practical skill by imitating and practice." ^[19] You can transform innovation from art to science. While artistic beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, science operates on methodology, not intuition. Science is measurable, repeatable, and traceable and can be documented. Therefore, a business's innovation process must be measurable, must lead to the same conclusions each time, and must be based on data.

The problem-solving (read: innovation) process has four elements: understand, plan, execute, and evaluate. The process of introducing an innovation to the marketplace combines these elements into a broader method encompassing multiple perspectives for instance, customer, industry, related markets, and...