You hear about a great new innovation another organization is trying and you wonder would it work here. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) offers a comprehensive toolkit to help any organization systematically decide whether an innovation will fit its situation.

Developed under contract by consulting firm RTI International, Will It Work Here? A Decisionmaker’s Guide to Adopting Innovations, guides the decision maker through a simple set of questions that track well with what Signature i advises in its innovation work:

• Does the innovation fit our organization? A key part of this assessment is whether it fits your vision, mission and culture. Is there sufficient evidence this innovation will help you address your opportunity or problem?
• Should we do it here? This phase of the decision process looks at the expected benefits and costs as well as the risks. The guide walks you through assembling your business case for the innovation.
• Can we do it here? Are you and your staff ready to make this change? Would other stakeholders support it? What changes in your organization will you need to execute the innovation?
• How will we do it here? Now you are ready for the details of execution, including deciding how you will evaluate the success of the innovation. Can you pilot the innovation before scaling up?

This guide recommends creating a written plan for the change that explains why the innovation is needed, who will lead it, everyone’s roles and responsibilities, the critical path to execution, communication strategies, monitoring for results, and activities to sustain the change.

We suspect this step often gets lost in the excitement of moving ahead with an innovation. Once we have done the hard work of deciding an innovation is a good fit and winning approval to try, we may think everyone has a clear picture of how this innovation will roll out. Making that assumption can open you up to failure. A written plan for the change helps you make sure you have done everything you possibly can to make the innovation a success.

You may still discover in the piloting or implementation phase something about this innovation and your organization that makes this a bad fit for you. This decisionmaker’s guide is a great tool to make sure you don’t miss any of the steps in analysis and planning that could help you discover a mismatch before you commit.