Innovator’s Dilemma
Published on 15 Sep 2005 at 12:23 am |
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Filed under The Cargo Cults of Business, Manifest Masquerade, Brain Trust, Design, Interface, and Usability, Business and Corporation Related, Branding and Values.
Clayton M. Christensen discusses at length what he calls "The Innovator’s Dilemma." In a nutshell, the Innovator’s Dilemma is the idea that great companies run into trouble when they fail to devote resources to the product of tomorrow due to concerns about losing focus, diverting resources from currently profitable products, or the possibity of alienating current customers. This is especially so when faced with disruptive technologies, those which change the competitive landscape, such as much cheaper solutions, technologies which obsolete existing ones, or perhaps those which allow a product to be carried into a new market area. This is a great book which I highly recommend.
It has been my privilege to work for three particularly innovative companies, including a small design firm well known for its innovative habits, and a certain large computer company which popularized the phrase “Think Different”. Even in those places the innovators dilemma proved problematic, for lesser organizations it can be devastating.
On the other hand, I’ve heard of a couple of cases where the book was brought into an organization but not really understood. In a classic example of cargo cult business, the Innovator’s Dilemma became an internal code for "It’s hard to innovate." and disruptive technology/products came to refer to "in your face" marketing. When all was said and done, the lesson which appeared to be derived from the experience was something to the tune of: "We must be on our guard against the Innovator’s Dilemma, in order to meet the challenge we’re going to be sure to focus on our core areas and employ ever greater disruptive marketing."
The Innovator’s Dilemma is a wicked little "Catch-22" and to expect a company to defeat it is perhaps setting the bar a little too high. However, I believe that understanding it, even if to decide it doesn’t apply, is almost a litmus test for modern management.
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