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The “Why” and “What” of Innovation
Invariably growth and innovation are top-of-mind priorities for every CEO. Innovation is the critical difference between business success and failure; it’s one of the most important elements in creating wealth. But most senior executives struggle with two simple questions:
- Is there a clear architecture/system to manage for innovation?
- Precisely where do you expect growth and innovation to come from:
organic growth, acquisitions, or alliances?
- These questions typically fill the CEO with ambiguity; puzzled over realities of execution and concrete action. What’s needed is a coherent strategic system to transform innovation from the realm of the ephemeral into the firm grasp of the dedicated practitioner.
Clarifying the Meaning of Innovation: Six Types
One of the biggest problems with innovation is its true meaning:
- Fundamentally, invention is a sub-set of innovation; but all-too-often invention is confused with innovation resulting in both a mystification and exclusion of non-technical people from innovation.
- Innovation is far broader, embracing six distinctive types of innovation powering the innovation engine, which can be used in combination with each other, to gain both strategic and operational advantage:
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1. Market Extensions
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4. Product Improvements
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2. Technology Inventions
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5. Process Improvements
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3. System Solutions
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6. Business Models
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The good news for business is that, with the exception of technology invention, an employee does not require an engineering degree -- making the majority of innovation available to everyone no matter what rank or educational level!
Power of Collaborative Innovation
During our recent research, we asked scores of executives: “What is the most sustainable source of competitive advantage?” The conclusion was quite revealing. We found a wide concurrence among senior executives with this statement:
In a Fast Moving, Rapidly Changing World, the Most Sustainable Source of
Competitive Advantage is -- Collaborative Innovation.
Simply put, Collaborative Innovation is the most robust and regenerative way to create true value and growth.
Definition of Collaborative Innovation
We define Collaborative Innovation as:
- The recursive interaction of co-creativity, knowledge, and mutual learning between two or more people working together toward a common goal of generating new sources of growth or wealth in an organization.
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