Is It Innovation If It Is Not Groundbreaking?

Innovation is often seen as the creation of groundbreaking, cutting-edge breakthroughs that have the power to transform industries. While this is true, it’s only one piece of the puzzle. True innovation goes beyond inventing something entirely new. It’s about reimagining the familiar—improving existing ideas with different approaches, combining concepts in fresh ways, or refining what already works to make it better. Innovation isn’t just about starting from scratch; it’s about building on what’s already there to create something even greater.

While there is no right way to innovate, read this article to explore the different types of innovation to help you decide which type aligns best with your goals.

Disruptive Innovation vs Sustaining Innovation

Disruptive Innovation refers to a new discovery that creates a product or service capable of transforming an existing market structure. In contrast, Sustaining Innovation is the process of improving an existing product or service to maintain its relevance and competitiveness in the current market without targeting a new market.

There are three key differences between Disruptive Innovation and Sustaining Innovation, which are:

1. Value Proposition: Disruptive Innovation typically creates a radically different value for a product. Meanwhile, Sustaining Innovation enhances the value of existing products, making them more competitive in established markets.
2. Introduction of New Products: Disruptive Innovation requires the development of entirely new types of products because the public is unfamiliar with them. In contrast, Sustaining Innovation does not require a product introduction process, as it focuses on improving existing offerings.
3. Competition with Other Market Players: Disruptive Innovation tends to create new markets, resulting in lower competition among players. On the other hand, Sustaining Innovation operates in established markets, where competition among players is typically higher.

Makassar Je'ne Tallasa Project: Example of Disruptive Innovation

Makassar Je'ne Tallasa is one of the solution implementation projects from CCE 1.0 that applies a Disruptive Innovation approach to address water scarcity in Tallo, Makassar. This project was designed to provide local communities with access to clean and safe drinking water—a pressing issue that was especially severe during the dry season.

Before the project’s intervention, communities faced significant hardships in securing clean water. They often had to queue for hours at communal wells or spend heavily on expensive drinking water from local water depots. Financial constraints forced many to resort to consuming unsafe water, leading to widespread health issues such as diarrhea. These challenges were exacerbated by the area’s geographical limitations, which made it inaccessible to the services of the Regional Drinking Water Company (PDAM). Thus, the project focused its innovation on 2 main solutions:

1. Building a rainwater harvesting installation to collect and store rainwater for shared use.
2. Adoption of small-scale independent water filtration installations capable of processing clean water into safe drinking water.

The impact:

1. Communities are no longer fully dependent on PDAM or unsafe water sources during the dry season.
2. Households have significantly reduced their expenses on drinking water, as they no longer need to rely heavily on costly water depots.

Sukla Project: Example of Sustaining Innovation

On the other hand, The Sukla Project, one of the solution implementation projects of CCE 2.0, adopts a Sustaining Innovation approach to address waste management issues in Besakih, Bali. Unlike disruptive innovation, which introduces entirely new systems or solutions, sustaining innovation builds upon and improves existing infrastructure and processes.

Before the project, Besakih struggled with managing waste generated by religious activities at the Besakih Temple and domestic waste from surrounding neighborhoods. Instead of creating new systems from scratch, the Sukla Project focused on optimizing and enhancing what was already in place. Key examples of this sustaining innovation approach include:

1. Utilizing the existing landfills (TPA) and waste management facilities (TPS3R) in the area rather than building new infrastructure.
2. Collaborating with the existing Waste Management Units in the region instead of operating independently.
3. Processing collected waste into other more useful materials, creating added value from the waste generated.

The impact:

1. The waste management system now operates optimally by revitalizing and maximizing the use of existing infrastructures.
2. Local units have been empowered and even positioned as key partners to help run and scale operations effectively.

While no type of innovation is inherently better than the other, each has its unique advantages and applications. Sustaining innovation, as seen in the Sukla Project, is ideal for improving and scaling existing systems. In contrast, disruptive innovation, like the Makassar Je’ne Tallasa Project, is better suited for creating entirely new solutions where traditional systems fall short.

So, which type of innovation aligns with your goals?