Taking a slightly different approach than other World Innovation Forum bloggers, I’ve distilled the first 90 minutes with Clayton Christensen down into these Top 10 Insights:Largest markets don’t represent the biggest growth opportunity – non-existent markets are keySustaining innovation improves product past what people need – disruptive innovations often win by being inferior but closer to customer needsLow cost strategy only works when you are fighting against a high cost competitor – prices fall if only low cost competitors existA good disruptive strategy creates an incentive for leaders to exit the contested area and focus on higher margin businessesBiggest opporunity in China isn’t low cost labor, it’s the untapped market of non-consumersClayton Christensen believes that green energy opportunities are not in high tech solutions but in low tech developing world insteadBe careful about outsourcing too much of your operations – you can end up creating competitors (Compaq/Flextronics example)Good companies survive … Continue reading →

Taking a slightly different approach than other World Innovation Forum bloggers, I’ve distilled 90 minutes with Vijay Govindarajan down into these Top 10 Insights:Most companies spend too much time on Box 1 thinking and not enough on Box 2&3 thinkingBox 1 is about closing the performance gap and restructuringBox 2&3 are about Closing the Opportunity Gap (projects for 2020) and RenewalStrategic Intent is about dreaming big (other people call this a BHAG) – not creating a mission statement that nobody readsEvery company needs a growth playbook for three horizons:Horizon 1 – Core BusinessHorizon 2 – Adjacent SpaceHorizon 3 – Entirely New SpaceHorizon 3 projects are 95% assumptions and Horizon 1 projects are 95% knowledgePeople at the top “Think” – People in the middle “Make Sure” – People at the Bottom – “Do” – If you want transformation – You must engage the “Doers” at the bottomHuge entry barriers to keep … Continue reading →

Taking a slightly different approach than other World Innovation Forum bloggers, I’ve distilled my time with Paul Saffo down into these Top 10 Insights:There are times when the uncertainty is so great that you shouldn’t even forecast at allGoogle becoming richer as people ‘contribute’ search strings – Where else do you think you are consuming but actually contribute?2/3 of Roomba owners give them a name – 1/3 take them with them to friend’s house or on vacationInnovative ideas often take about twenty years to succeed – If you find something that has been failing for almost 20 years, pay special attentionLucasFilm Habitat failed 20 yrs ago, others followed in failure, then Second Life took offPeople tend to substitute forward velocity as a measure of succcessSometimes bad management is what allows innovation to happenThe innovators’ trap is mistaking a clear view for a short distancePeople talk about innovations as an S-curve. … Continue reading →

Taking a slightly different approach than other World Innovation Forum bloggers, I’ve distilled 90 minutes with CK Prahalad down into these Top 10 Insights:Companies achieving competitive separation will be focused on ‘next practices’, not best practicesManagers must focus some of their attention on volatility and discontinuities, because if not actively managed, discontinuities become disruptionsTo manage volatility you must address two contradictory requirements:Strategic Clarity and ConsistencyOperational Agility and ResilienceAvoiding commoditization from now will require the creation of personalized, co-created experiences (possibly using multiple vendors)Only when you try to get rid of variable costs do you realize they are fixedOur new business reality requires systems capable of enormous volatility and scaling up and down rapidlyHow do I create capability of anticipating the future?How do I enable real time reconfiguration of resources?Four billion people want to be part of the global marketplace – this will have a profound impact on sustainabilityThe question is … Continue reading →