The innovation continuum

Contrary to the belief that innovation happens in a siloed, vacuum environment, it is actually a systemic and continual process. Innovation requires not only the generation of new ideas but also the implementation and sustained adoption of those ideas. This often involves overcoming significant barriers and challenges, such as resistance to change, regulatory hurdles, or technical limitations. It also requires a systematic approach to identifying and addressing customer needs, understanding market trends, and leveraging available resources and expertise.

Leaders must strive to create a culture and a systematic approach to a culture of innovation. An innovation continuum is critical for enterprises to thrive and grow in today’s competitive landscape. The process of innovation is a set of strategic steps where an organization can take creative approaches to realize its vision, goals, and objectives within a timeline [8]. The following diagram illustrates the stages of the innovation continuum:

Figure 1.2 – The innovation continuum

Let’s take a look at each of the stages shown in the preceding diagram:

1. Ideation: This is the initial stage of the innovation process, where new ideas are sourced and generated through brainstorming, market research, customer feedback, or other sources. The goal is to identify potential areas for innovation and generate a variety of ideas that can be explored further.
2. Curation: Once a promising idea has been identified, the next step is to curate and develop a concept around the ideas that can be tested and ratified. This can involve the following:
   • Stakeholder surveys (internal or external) to identify problem areas in different forms
   • Explore and identify solutions that are available both internally and commercially
   • Identify the stakeholders of the product in consideration
   • Build out MVPs (minimum viable product) prototypes or a proof-of-concept
   • Determine the viability of the idea across multiple dimensions, such as financial, technological, legal, and security dimensions, and its measurable potential impact

   Ideas that pass curation move onto the prioritization phase, and the ones that don’t are moved to the back burner.

3. Prioritization: This is an important step where curated ideas get prioritized based on a variety of factors, including customer or market demands, technology, competitive intel, and applicability to core business capability vs. exploratory considerations. Some popular methods that enterprises can leverage are McKinsey’s three horizons model, a portfolio of initiatives, a strategic control map, and a consumer decision journey [9]. Each of these methods caters to different kinds of prioritization factors that influence decision-making.
4. Solution hypothesis: At this stage, the concept is tested and evaluated to determine its feasibility, usability, and market potential. This can involve assessing product viability, business value, opportunity cost, customer or stakeholder value, and return on investment.
5. Incubation and development: Once the concept is deemed feasible and viable, the next step is to develop and implement the technology incrementally. This may involve further building out the MVP, designing the product, building the software, securing sponsorship, leadership oversight, and funding, and developing the infrastructure needed to support the innovation.
6. Integrate, launch, and scale: Once the technology has been developed, the next step is to integrate, launch, and scale to reach a wider audience. This may involve marketing and promotion, building partnerships, incremental releases, or expanding the product’s capabilities to meet the evolving needs of the market.

As every enterprise is unique, leaders in enterprises can choose the appropriate innovation strategy that best fits their vision and objectives. However, it is crucial to create a culture of innovation and put in place a process that drives it. Several modern enterprises have created and funded R&D departments and innovation labs with a primary focus on industry research, technology research, and viability assessment. Leadership sponsorship is key to ensuring innovation centers do not operate in a silo and are embedded into the organizational structure. Let us explore the tales of two enterprises and how leadership played a crucial role in leading the digital disruption and the need to constantly innovate.