It’s sad but true that most new products fail to meet their targets. Managed innovation can reduce the failure rate. But even managed innovation cannot guarantee that product and service innovation alone will be sufficient to take your company to its highest level of success.
To get where you want to go, look at non-traditional areas for innovation. One framework we like to help you focus on non-traditional areas is called Doblin’s 10 Areas of the Business. Another is called the Business Model Canvas. Still another, known as 13 Dimensions of Innovation, was featured in a recent blog post.
Take Supply Chain, for instance. This part of a company may not seem particularly sexy, but it holds vast, untapped potential to improve your results. One Delhi-based firm achieved savings of over 1,200 cr. per annum through supply chain innovation alone!
Moreover, if you can innovate in an area such as business processes, channels or partnerships, you have a very good chance of achieving a sustainable competitive advantage over others in your industry. Some new courier companies have achieved limited success on popular routes, but they can’t duplicate the channels and partnerships that firms like DTDC and Blue Dot have developed. Innovation in those areas has given the market leaders considerable protection against would-be competitors.
To innovate in new areas, assign your innovation team to study and experience those areas, to gain deep insights, and to think about innovative solutions to improve results. We look forward to reading about your success.
Related reading: 13 Dimensions of Innovation
the innovation workgroup 