Dear Idea Guy,

I’ve been running my company for over 30 years. I’ve sat through more Vistage meetings than I can count; shared war stories, celebrated wins, weathered downturns. And somewhere along the way, “innovation” became the word everyone started using like it was the answer to everything.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in growth. I’ve always challenged my team to improve. But lately, innovation feels more like a mandate than a mindset. Every quarter, I hear about “AI pilots,” “labs,” and “experiments.” My younger execs are fired up about it all, but I’ll admit, I don’t always understand what we’re building, or why.

I don’t want to be the person who holds us back. I know the world is moving fast, and we need to evolve. But if we’re going to invest time, money, and people into “innovation,” I need to understand: How do we measure if it’s working?

I’m used to seeing a return on investment. Revenue. Margins. Operational efficiency. What’s the innovation equivalent of a P&L? How do I explain this to my board or justify it to myself?

-Accountable in the C-Suite

____________________________________________________________________

Dear Accountable,

You’re not alone—and you’re asking the right question.

In a world where “innovate or die” has become a rallying cry, many CEOs are being asked to greenlight big bets without clear scorecards. That’s a hard sell for someone who built a business on discipline, not disruption.

The truth? Innovation is no longer optional—but it is measurable.

Just like you wouldn’t invest in a new factory without a forecast, you shouldn’t invest in innovation without a dashboard. The trick is choosing the right metrics.

Here are three to start with:

1. Idea Conversion Rate – How many ideas actually move from concept to implementation?
2. Time to Market – How fast can you go from insight to impact?
3. Revenue from New Offerings – What percentage of sales comes from products or services launched in the last 12–36 months?

These aren’t fluff—they’re performance indicators. And they help shift innovation from an abstract ideal to a business discipline.

But here’s the catch: metrics only matter if the problem is real. If you’re measuring noise instead of need, the numbers won’t mean much. That’s why I always recommend starting with problem identification before solution generation.

You don’t have to understand every piece of the technology. What your team needs is your clarity: What does success look like? And how will we know if we’re getting there?

Set that vision. Then ask for proof.

— Kevin Popovic, The Idea Guy®

Read this column on San Diego Business Journal.

____________________________________________________________________

WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM? is a weekly column by Kevin Popovic, The Idea Guy®—a trusted advisor to CEOs and leaders across industries. Each edition answers real-world business challenges with clear, creative insights you can use to think differently and lead confidently.

Got a problem worth solving? Send your question to WYP@TheIdeaGuy.us – it could be featured in an upcoming column.