Monetizing Innovation

Chapter 2Feature Shocks, Minivations, Hidden Gems, and UndeadsThe Four Flavors of Monetizing Innovation Failure

As we mentioned at the end of the previous chapter, we have analyzed thousands of new product and service monetizing innovation failures for clients over the last 30 years, and we find they fall into four categories: feature shocks, minivations, hidden gems, and undeads. The good news is that there are only four categories! That makes it easier to avoid them.

Which of these missteps you will likely make has a lot to do with your company's culture. Companies with strong product-driven or engineering cultures tend to be the ones that develop feature shocks. Firms with a culture of playing it safe and avoiding big risks typically suffer minivations. Hidden gems most often afflict companies that coddle the core business. And undeads are born in firms whose top-down cultures discourage feedback and criticism from below.

Let's start with feature shocks, something anyone who comes from a company with a strong engineering culture will immediately recognize.

Flavor 1: Feature Shocks—When You Give Too Much and Get Too Little

Feature shocks happen when you try to cram too many features into one product, creating a confusing and often expensive mess. In a sincere effort to have it be “all things to all people,” you launch a product that pleases few. The result is the product's value is less than the sum of the parts. Due to its multitude of features—none of them a standout—these ...