RPM (Repeatable Patterns
& Models)
Everything that sustains begins with a model.
When those models become repeatable, the impact of those models begin to scale. Identifying patterns within those models leads to predictability, and predictability allows us to build and refine those models over time. Consider a leaf. Photosynthesis is a model that combines sunlight, water, and minerals to produce a packet of food. When repeated billions of times, that model sustains a forest.
Organizations are built on patterns and models. Their success depends on it. Their failure over time can also be driven by relying on models that are no longer relevant, or failing to recognize new patterns that have emerged inside the organization, or in the world outside the organization’s walls.
Innovation Engine’s team has spent their careers focused on recognizing patterns, building and testing models, and ensuring a dynamic process that helps organizations with sustaining and scaling models over time. This cyclical process of identifying, modeling, and repeating forms the basis of innovation intelligence, significantly accelerating speed to market. We believe that the Innovation Engine can only accelerate through RPM–those Repeatable Patterns and Models.
Whether you’re a startup trying to accelerate product development and market entry, a company looking to identify new products or markets, a longstanding organization looking for efficiency improvement or cost reduction, or an entity facing massive disruption, the effective way to sustain success is to invest in accelerating through RPM.
The RPM Process
The RPM process begins with three main steps:
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Innovation Engine works with our partner companies to understand their current system or process in detail, including its inputs, processes, and outputs.
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Once we’re immersed in the current model, the next step is to identify the patterns within and around it. That includes documenting each step of the current process and understanding new patterns that may have emerged–within, and outside, the organization–since the existing model has been implemented.
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A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) of the identified patterns helps in understanding the viability and potential of these patterns when applied to different contexts. This analysis helps in refining the model and making it more robust.
From there, Innovation Engine works with its partners to develop, test, iterate, and scale new and adapted models, based on finding new approaches that work. We draw on our knowledge of RPM across organizations but adapting that knowledge to fit the particular culture, needs, and realities of each partner.
We find, again and again, when organizations invest in RPM, they accelerate innovation, enhance predictability, and improve efficiency.
Repeatable Patterns & Models (RPM) represent a powerful framework for innovation intelligence and speed to market. By understanding and leveraging the inherent models and patterns within systems, organizations can accelerate their innovation processes, improve efficiency, and enhance predictability. Whether in nature or technology, the principles of RPM can be applied to drive growth and create thriving ecosystems.