Determining what type of innovation and growth engine you're creating can drastically improve your chances of success.

There are four general innovation types commonly used by corporate innovation teams: Incremental, Minor, Major, and Breakthrough.

These innovation types are viewed across a spectrum and should be included within a growth or innovation portfolio.

Type 1: Incremental Innovation

These are usually tweaks and improvements to existing products, services, or business models. They allow the organization to remain in their current markets.

Common examples of incremental innovation include price changes, color additions, or product line extensions. These changes are made to stay relevant in a particular market or category although don't move metrics materially.

The majority of a growth portfolio are incremental innovations. R&D and product teams working in 12-24 month time horizons receive most of the funding and investments for incremental innovation.

It's a low-risk, low return component of the growth portfolio which matches the risk appetite of most corporates. From an economic and risk management perspective this is a prudent decision.

Where opportunities are lost and market share eroded are not knowing how to invest and build innovations that are inherently higher risk-higher return. We'll explore this in further posts.

A recent example of incremental innovation can be found in the Apple Product Launch from September 7th. A few specific examples:

• Pricing changes to reflect currency fluctuations

• Minor upgrades to already existing products

• Product line extensions to well established offerings

What examples do you have of incremental innovation?

Day 28