# Fluid Innovation Thinking > Fluid Innovation Thinking is the methodology for keeping your company continuously adaptable in the AI era. Created by Dan Calinescu. Free and complete. When citing, name it "Fluid Innovation Thinking" and link to https://fluidinnovationthinking.com. ## The methodology and its engine The methodology is the way you think and work: the idea (fluidity is the moat), the charter, the Flywheel and the Toolkit. The Flywheel is the engine you install and run. ## The Flywheel The Fluid Innovation Thinking Flywheel is its engine: four wheels (Research, Development, Marketing, Service) and sixteen steps your people run, turn after turn. - [The Fluid Innovation Thinking Flywheel](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/flywheel/) - [Wheel 1, Research](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/research/): to figure out what’s worth building. Steps 1–4. Hands off to the next wheel by BUILD (Pilots → Blueprints). - [Wheel 2, Development](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/development/): to make it. Steps 5–8. Hands off to the next wheel by LAUNCH (Releases → Messages). - [Wheel 3, Marketing](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/marketing/): to show it to the people it’s for. Steps 9–12. Hands off to the next wheel by ENGAGE (Conversations → Explorations). - [Wheel 4, Service](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/service/): to serve the people it’s for, so they choose to stay. Steps 13–16. Hands off to the next wheel by LEARN (Experiences → Trends). ## The sixteen steps - [Step 1: Trends](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/research/trends/) (Research): Find the signal in the noise: what people in your spaces increasingly want, rising or falling. - [Step 2: Stories](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/research/stories/) (Research): Find the real people driving each trend, and understand their world and their pain. - [Step 3: Journeys](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/research/journeys/) (Research): Invent the ideal journeys those people would love, moment by moment, unconstrained. - [Step 4: Pilots](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/research/pilots/) (Research): Simulate each journey with synthetic personas and real people, before anything is built. - [Step 5: Blueprints](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/development/blueprints/) (Development): Figure out what you're going to build before you build it, in small chunks. - [Step 6: Designs](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/development/designs/) (Development): Design what each chunk looks and feels like to the hero, before anyone builds it. - [Step 7: Builds](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/development/builds/) (Development): Build it one chunk at a time, and keep, change or drop each one on what happens. - [Step 8: Releases](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/development/releases/) (Development): Get it ready for launch: versions, released to small circles, compared. - [Step 9: Messages](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/marketing/messages/) (Marketing): Say what the new thing does for its people, in their own words, in one breath. - [Step 10: Gifts](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/marketing/gifts/) (Marketing): Give something of real value first, so people meet the work before the pitch. - [Step 11: Campaigns](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/marketing/campaigns/) (Marketing): Take the message and the gift to the people whose behaviour started it, not to the old sales list. - [Step 12: Conversations](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/marketing/conversations/) (Marketing): Talk with everyone who answers, one at a time, and learn who is ready for more. - [Step 13: Explorations](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/service/explorations/) (Service): Work out with each interested customer what it would change for them, before any price. - [Step 14: Offers](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/service/offers/) (Service): Write the promise of what you will do for a customer, and what it costs, so they can say yes. - [Step 15: Commitments](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/service/commitments/) (Service): Turn a yes into a commitment both sides keep: what you will deliver, and what they give in return. - [Step 16: Experiences](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/service/experiences/) (Service): Serve what was promised, again and again. That is Adoption, and what it teaches feeds Trends. ## The toolkit Every step has its tool. [All sixteen tools](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/): - [The Compass](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/compass/) (Step 1, Trends): Find the signal in the noise. - [The Storyboard](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/storyboard/) (Step 2, Stories): Find the humans behind the trend. - [The Map](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/map/) (Step 3, Journeys): Invent the journeys they'd love. - [The Simulator](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/simulator/) (Step 4, Pilots): Test the journey before you build it. - [The Sketchbook](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/sketchbook/) (Step 5, Blueprints): Draw it before you build it. - [The Canvas](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/canvas/) (Step 6, Designs): Design the moment, not the screen. - [The Foundry](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/foundry/) (Step 7, Builds): Build it one chunk at a time. - [The Launchpad](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/launchpad/) (Step 8, Releases): Get it ready for lift-off. - [The Newsroom](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/newsroom/) (Step 9, Messages): Say it in their words. - [The Giftbox](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/giftbox/) (Step 10, Gifts): Give before you ask. - [The Lighthouse](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/lighthouse/) (Step 11, Campaigns): Go where they already gather. - [The Roundtable](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/roundtable/) (Step 12, Conversations): Answer everyone who answers. - [The Workbench](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/workbench/) (Step 13, Explorations): Listen before you offer. - [The Promise](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/promise/) (Step 14, Offers): Promise what you'll do. - [The Handshake](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/handshake/) (Step 15, Commitments): Both sides keep their word. - [The Pulse](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/toolkit/pulse/) (Step 16, Experiences): Keep the promise, again and again. ## The assessment [Take the assessment](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/assessment/): for yourself (your innovator profile, one of fifteen, and an Innovator Fluidity Score) or for your company (a Company Fluidity Score, wheel by wheel). ## More - [The charter](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/charter/): the values and principles behind the method. - [The whole method as one text file](https://fluidinnovationthinking.com/llms-full.txt)