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August 22, 2006

The three flavors of Innovation

Talking about innovation is a way of talking about applied creativity. Most often, things being called innovation fit into one or more of these categories:

Category A - new solution applied to old problem
Category B - old solution applied to new problem
Category C - new solution applied to new problem

There's a set of first impressions that roughly correspond to the character of those "creative" categories; respectively:

a - "breakthrough" realizations
b - "ingenious" cleverness
c - "inspired" visions

But in practice, here are other important typical aspects that distinguish them. Another aspect that distinguishes the types are the modes by which they are usually expressed.

The modes range across types A through C. To track the differences clearly, consider these examples:

a - technical automation (e.g., photo-copiers) -- most similar to "processes"
b - scope extension (e.g., photography as art) -- most similar to "genres"
c - semantic invention (e.g., Helmut Newton's photography) -- most similar to "idioms"

And here, in parallel, are the conventional strategic business corollaries, ways that business makes itself innovative, with some actual examples from business:

a - positioning -- leverages context. Putting the browser everywhere, on the desk, on the phone, on the car dashboard, on the refrigerator...

b - core competency -- leverages knowledge. Ballet instructors teaching pro football players about stance and balance; UPS teaching other companies about logistics.

c - defensible differentiation -- leverages uniqueness. The Segway.

Meanwhile, the challenge of successfully innovating is overcome differently depending on what type of innovation is at hand... so the best choice of approach must be considered against its odds:

a - new solution applied to old problem: adoption
b - old solution applied to new problem: execution
c - new solution applied to new problem: compliance

While those options are not mutually exclusive in the moment of opportunity, they do show that there is (not surprisingly) the risk of picking the wrong innovation approach and its attendant resources for the possible circumstantial value of just being "new". So, as it turns out, from the management perspective, innovation must be designed.

Posted by Malcolm Ryder at August 22, 2006 6:45 AM

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