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Radical Innovation vs. Incremental
Innovation
Because much
of the innovation taking place today is incremental, so
is its impact on growth. Little ventured, little gained.
Other firms, after years of incremental innovation,
suddenly throw millions or even billions of dollars at
ideas that are poorly conceived, poorly timed, and
poorly executed, only to have near-catastrophic
consequences.1 There
is practical value in understanding the patterns in and
the differences between evolutionary incremental
innovation projects and revolutionary radical innovation
projects. This understanding can help you apply right
management practices to different types of innovation
projects and make the course of radical innovation
shorter, less sporadic, less expensive, and less
uncertain.
High level of
uncertainty is a hallmark a radical innovation projects,
especially at early stages. The criteria used to
evaluate a radical idea and concept should differ from
those applied to evaluating incremental innovations.
Viewing radical ideas
–
associated with high uncertainties
– from
the perspective of the mainstream business and applying
traditional evaluation methods and criteria to them is
inappropriate and counterproductive. Either these
methods give a false sense of security, or they lead to
premature rejection of good ideas. "It is easier to say
"no" or to require more detailed information than to
defend a decision to invest resources in the absence of
"hard data.“2
Down the road,
uncertainties influence the course of radical project
development that requires flexibility and creativity in
resource and competency acquisition, while incremental
projects follow more formal and predictable route.
Incremental
innovation projects, due to low levels of uncertainties,
are usually follow the orderly process. Radical
innovation projects, due to high levels of
uncertainties, cannot be described by this orderly
process. Even though the radical innovation life cycle
includes many of the same sets of activities and
decision points, the reality of managing the process is
strikingly different for radical versus incremental
innovation.2
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