Innovation to the Core

CHAPTER 2

Creating the Preconditions for Innovation

WHERE DOES INNOVATION actually come from? How do you generate an idea that is so radical—so compelling—that it fundamentally alters customer expectations, or reinvents the cost structure in your industry, or redefines the basis for competition in a way that devalues the skills and assets of your rivals?

Even after all these years, the innovation process that either consciously or subconsciously leads to such breakthroughs is little understood. To be sure, we have lots of ways to evaluate an idea or a business strategy once it’s already there. We can use a whole set of criteria to assess whether it’s worth investing in or not—for example, we can ask whether it is likely to deliver above-average ...