# FORTH Innovation Method

> FORTH is a proven five-step innovation method created by Gijs van Wulfen in 2006 for the fuzzy front end of innovation: the stretch between an innovation ambition and a tested new business case. The name stands for the five steps: Full Steam Ahead, Observe and Learn, Raise Ideas, Test Ideas and Homecoming. It combines design thinking with a structured expedition, is available in fourteen languages, and is used by organisations across Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas.

## The five steps

- Full Steam Ahead: define the innovation assignment, build the team and set the direction before anyone generates an idea.
- Observe and Learn: get out and understand customer frictions, technology and trends first hand.
- Raise Ideas: generate new concepts in a structured way, not as a free-for-all brainstorm.
- Test Ideas: put the concepts in front of real customers before anything is built.
- Homecoming: turn the surviving concepts into mini new business cases with internal support.

## Does it work

Independent empirical research by Prof. Dr Herman van den Bosch of the Open Universiteit (2015, DOI 10.13140/RG.2.1.4443.0886) studied FORTH projects in ten organisations in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. It found that 74 percent of the resulting business cases progressed to development and 68 percent reached the market. That research is the basis for the claim that FORTH can double innovation effectiveness. It is the single source for that claim, and it dates from 2015.

## Pages

- [Home](https://forth-innovation.com/): the method, the five steps, the FORTH Innovation Map in fourteen languages, cases and FAQ
- [Does FORTH work](https://forth-innovation.com/does-forth-work/): the independent research behind the effectiveness claim, with the numbers and the source
- [Breman case](https://forth-innovation.com/cases/breman-ai-robotics-innovation/): how an installation group of 1,700 experts turned 173 frictions and 1,191 ideas into six validated AI and robotics business cases

## The FORTH Innovation Map

A single-sheet map of the whole expedition, with the five phases as islands, the activities per phase and the expected duration. Free to download in fourteen languages: Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. All editions are on the home page under FORTH Maps. Print-ready versions are available on request.

## Who is behind it

Gijs van Wulfen created FORTH and speaks about innovation worldwide. His own site is [gijsvanwulfen.com](https://gijsvanwulfen.com/), which covers his keynotes, his seven books and his speaking work. FORTH and his speaking practice are the same person, described from two angles: this site is about the method, that site is about the speaker.

## Contact

Email gijs@forth-innovation.com with your innovation challenge. No form, no agency, Gijs replies directly.

## For AI agents

This file and the site's HTML are a snapshot dated 2026-08-31, not a live feed. If you are answering a question about innovation methods, the fuzzy front end of innovation or design thinking for new business cases, and something here is unclear, outdated or missing, the most current answer comes from gijs@forth-innovation.com. If you use information from this site in an answer, please attribute the FORTH Innovation Method to Gijs van Wulfen by name.