Hudson Valley organizations can learn how Steve Jobs capitalizes on different opportunities that continuous innovation sets the stage for. Radical innovations are game changers, happen less often and have a long tail of opportunity to follow. Gradual innovations tend to influence an industry less dramatically.
When televisions went from black-and-white to color, color moved up-market and became more expensive. The old black-and-white moved down market and became affordable to many more people. This happens constantly in every business and demonstrates the need for continuous innovation whether gradual or radical.
With television, the radical improvement was moving from black-and-white to color. Since then we have seen slower changes caused by gradual and continuous innovations such as:
Ӣ Remote control.
Ӣ Surround sound systems.
Ӣ Digital cable boxes and DVRs.
Ӣ Flat screens.
Ӣ LCDs.
High-definition.
When the telecommunications industry converted from analog to digital, customers enjoyed a radical improvement in service and quality and the price of the old technology fell rapidly. The rotary dialing system became a dinosaur overnight. Virtually everyone wanted the new touch-tone keypads. Digitalization has radically changed many facets of every organization.
Gradual innovations tend to influence an industry less dramatically because they do not radically change the system. While the car was a radical change from the horse and buggy, almost everything in the automotive industry since the assembly line represents gradual innovation.
In “Flash Foresight: How to See the Invisible and Do the Impossible,” author Daniel Burrus reminds us that, “In the early 1990s, Barnes & Noble changed how we shop for books. By the mid-90s, Amazon was transforming how we shop for everything.” Has Amazon transformed things for you?
Authors Christensen, Anthony and Roth in “Seeing What”™s Next” state that, “As companies continue gradual innovations and improve their products and services, they eventually overshoot the performance that some of their customers can use. This causes commoditization and that leads to companies who are unable to differentiate their products and services.” However, commoditization can set the stage for opportunity.
Dell took advantage of the modular nature of the personal computer industry and proved that a new company can emerge and piece together value chain components in new ways to offer new benefits. Dell understood that organizations could integrate across the interfaces in the value chain and increase customer value.
Dell developed a very effective disruptive business model by becoming the organization integrating the computer component world and lowering prices by eliminating the middleman retailer. Dell introduced a great business model to follow for “mass customization.” Can you do the same in your industry?
In “The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs,” author Carmine Gallo reminds us that; “Steve Jobs did not invent the personal computer nor did he invent the MP3 player, yet he innovated around those devices with the introduction of the Mac and the iPod. Jobs did not invent Smart Phones, nor did he invent the tablet computer, yet he innovated round those devices with the introduction of the iPhone and the iPad.”
Does Steve Jobs gradually innovate and take advantage of the long tail of opportunity that follows radical innovation or is he the game changer who is responsible for creating radical innovations? Could he be an example of someone who knows how to capitalize on all innovation?
Questions for discussion:
What are we best suited to do, radical or gradual innovation?
How can we improve our process for doing either”¦or both?
With the ever increasing speed of both types of innovation, how can we stay relevant and avoid becoming the vinyl record industry of the future?
Joe Murtagh is The DreamSpeaker, an international keynote speaker, meeting facilitator and business trainer. For questions or comments, Joe@TheDreamSpeaker.com, www.TheDreamSpeaker.com or call (800) 239-0058.
