I recently attempted to answer the question ‘how much?’ and now ‘for how long?’. These are probably the two most frequent questions I get asked about innovation. If you haven’t already seen my article on the cost of innovation you might find it helpful.
The thing is, the answer is the one you don’t want to hear. “It depends” or “forever” are the two most likely answers I can give you. How come?
Most companies try to get to grips with innovation as a result of a desire to develop new products or services, usually quickly. You may be able to cope with your current R&D setup, but let’s imagine you can’t, you want something different, something that will leave the competition for dead.
You’ll need to conjure up a selection of employees, the right mix is key here. They will need resources like time and space and someone very old’s permission to be playful (sorry prototype). Of course they’re going to need some specific goals, otherwise they’re really just playing the game.
So if you meet these still vague requirements, for how long? To achieve a successful reinvention (others might call this incremental innovation) you could have something ready in about 6-8 months. If you want to be a little more radical then maybe 2 years.
This is just a wet finger in the air. With my innovation rating cap I have seen a truly disruptive innovation take 7 or 8 years to get to market.
And the answer “forever”?
Regular readers will know that I believe innovation is something we should be doing constantly so that it lasts forever. Think of it as an ice cream maker that is always on and loaded with ingredients instead of being on every summer.
There is also another way. If you get stuck in the ‘non-innovation cycle’ you could be there forever and produce absolutely nothing. Read more here.
Don’t let that put you off though, the payoffs can be immense.
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