"For almost every company, the greatest challenge of innovation is not a lack of ideas but, rather, successfully managing innovation so that it delivers the required return on the company’s investment of money, time, and people. Most attempts at innovation fail to deliver this return—they do not generate enough payback.

Payback means one thing—cash. Cash that is realized within the planned time frame. When a company makes an investment in innovation and creates something new that produces cash return swiftly and directly, it is a winning situation, particularly when the return is larger than expected. The company has a “hit” on its hands. And this is true regardless of whether the new thing is a product, service, process change, business model, customer experience, or anything else that is new."