By embracing quick losses as a positive outcome in all levels of the organization, and deploying the tools and techniques required to assess value, manufacturers can foster the right environment for teams to ultimately bring the best ideas to market.

We’ve all come across examples of products seeing a second life: amped-up PCs, restored or repurposed furniture, souped-up cars, and renovated houses. Or there are simple things, such as using baking soda to reduce odors inside of refrigerators. But has anyone ever sat down to calculate how much investment is going into all this beyond-the-factory discovery and innovation?

For most companies, conventional wisdom says that collaborative teams offer the best path to generating compelling innovation.  Behind this notion is that high-performance and diverse groups are best suited to cope with technology complexity, commercialization challenges and  as well as stick handle through management gates such as securing buy-in and resources.  In fact, I have argued this point in my blog on a number of occasions.  A recent Wharton research paper suggests that other innovation strategies could be more effective.