#5 Innovation portfolios in ISO 56001 audits

ISO 56001, the international standard for Innovation Management Systems (IMS), is being adopted by more and more organizations looking to systematize and scale their innovation efforts and capabilities. One critical area it highlights is how organizations manage innovation portfolios, not just individual initiatives.

For auditors, this presents a new kind of challenge. Unlike traditional audits focused on the success of individual projects, ISO 56001 requires assessing how an organization balances uncertainty, risk, and strategic alignment across a portfolio of initiatives and projects. This means understanding failure as part of the overall effort and evaluating success in terms of collective returns on investments, not just individual results.

What can auditors do?

• Review how diverse the innovation portfolios are (high vs. low uncertainty, incremental vs. radical initiatives, etc.).
• Evaluate how the organization tracks performance at the portfolio level, not just at the initiative or project level.
• Look for systems that learn from failure, adapt priorities, and manage uncertainty across multiple initiatives.

Auditing innovation activities means zooming out. A single failure doesn’t break a portfolio; it's often a necessary step toward learning and success.

Innovation portfolios is one of eight critical themes auditors must be aware of and master when auditing ISO 56001.