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Abstract
The Art and
Discipline of Strategic Innovation
Strategic Innovation is the
creation of growth strategies,
business models,
new product categories, or services
that change the game and
generate significant new value for consumers, customers and
the corporation.
Yin and Yang of Value Innovation
This paper describes a
holistic, multidisciplinary framework that enables
organizations to take a strategic approach to
innovation.
The framework combines
non-traditional, creative approaches to
business innovation
with conventional
strategy develpment models. It brings
together perspectives from several disciplines: the
non-traditional approaches to innovation found in the
business creativity movement; traditional strategy
consulting; the
new product development perspective of
industrial design firms; qualitative consumer/customer
research; futures research found in think tanks and
traditional scenario planning; and organizational
development (OD) practices that examine the effectiveness of
an
organization's culture, processes and structures.
The Jazz of Innovation
The framework consists of a
cohesive set of practices that
inspire imaginative teams to
look beyond the obvious, explore a broad range of
possibilities, identify significant opportunities, make
informed decisions about the most promising paths to pursue,
create a shared
vision for growth, define pragmatic action
plans that “bridge from the future back to the present” and
align the organization around the requirements for success.
Innovation-friendly
Organization
Strategic Innovation takes the
road less traveled – it challenges an organization to look
beyond its established business boundaries and mental models
and to participate in an open-minded, creative exploration
of the realm of possibilities.
Some organizations may feel
that seeking breakthroughs is too grandiose a goal, and that
they would be content with “simply
growing the business”.
Experience shows, however, that focusing on the short-term
typically yields only short-term results – while teams
aspiring to seek significant breakthroughs will both
identify “big ideas” and also generate closer-in,
incremental ideas.
Strategic Innovation is not
characterized by mundane, incremental product extensions,
the “me-too” business models of close followers, or
band-aids for inefficient processes. It does not consist of
simple “facilitated creativity sessions and
brainstorming
new ideas”. It is not based on the linear principles of
traditional strategic planning which extrapolate the past in
an attempt to predict the future. It does not result in
“pure blue sky”. Instead, it spans a journey of inquiry and
activity – from creative inspiration at the ambiguous “fuzzy
front end” through the detailed requirements of successful
execution that lead to business impact.
Strategic Innovation calls for
a holistic approach that operates on multiple levels.
Systemic
Innovation: 7 Areas
First,
it blends non-traditional and traditional approaches to
business strategy, deploying the practices of “Industry
Foresight”, “Consumer/Customer Insight” and “Strategic
Alignment” as a foundation, and supplementing them with
conventional consulting models. Second, it combines two
seemingly paradoxical mindsets: expansive, visionary
thinking that imaginatively explores long-term
possibilities; and pragmatic, down-to-earth implementation
activities that lead to short-term, measurable business
impact.
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