Jump the Re-Invention Gap and Capture Sales Growth
Extra! Extra! The 2021 lists of the Most Innovative Companies are on digital newsstand now! Forbes, Fast Company, BCG, Wired, et al. publish these lists every year, celebrating new products and services.
It’s like the Oscars of Innovation! And, like the Oscars, these “awards” are all about the past. As an investor the market’s already factored this in. As an exec you ask yourself, “OK, but how did they do it?, What’s their secret innovation sauce? How far are we off the innovation path?”
As a business leader, you know you need to grow revenue.. Innovators generate 2.0-2.6x the revenue of non-innovators. While, there are plenty of innovation “how-tos,” (“8 Essentials of Innovation", McKinsey; “Digital Transformation”, E&Y; “Characteristics of Innovators”, PWC, etc.) most of these are opaque. How, exactly, are you supposed to “Aspire,” “Accelerate,” or “Bridge.”?
Omphaloskepsis (gazing at your navel)
Nearly all poor innovators suffer from this disorder. They look inward, at their company’s culture, leadership, budgeting, etc. While these are important to operations, the #1 reason new products fail is because there is no market demand. What looked like a good idea didn’t effectively meet an unmet or underserved need.
Look at the Market! Meanwhile, successful innovators constantly find new ways to build on trends in technology and markets to better meet customer needs. A decade ago Spark Partners defined the “re-invention gap” differently. It is the failure to keep up with shifting market demand; failure to follow market trends. Companies lock-in their historical success formula thinking that the market is unchanging. It is NOT. As consumers absorb the latest innovations, new needs become apparent. As the market’s demand for new products and services increases the typical company offering stays flat – focusing on operations and sustaining the past creates a lack of effort to innovate for changing needs.
Markets constantly grow and change. By focusing on needs and trends you can keep your innovation funnel full of ideas. Then, your knowledge of trends allows you to operate a system for choosing between ideas developing the successful revenue generators. By understanding trends you not only create innovations you are assured of a robust market demand. While Operations optimizes the prior success formula, externally focused Marketing leads the way to new success formulae.
“Get outside the box, then think!”
If you’re stuck operating your old business, with insufficient external data – or a lack of ability to analyze external trends – you should call us. We have the Think Innovation tool downloadable from our web site to walk you through the process. Or let’s talk about how we can help you innovate to close your Reinvention Gap.
NEW Training!
Spark Partners is here to help as your coach on trends and innovation. We bring years of experience studying trends, organizations, and how to implement. Take a look at our Assessment Page to learn more, give us a call to help you prepare for trends at 847-726-8465, or email [email protected] .
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