The power of little ideas
Subtitle: a third way to innovate for market success
By: David Robertson with Kent Lineback
Contributors: Lineback, Kent, 1943- author
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Published: 2017
Language: eng
Number of pages: 236
ISBN-13: 9781633691681
Subjects: Technological innovations; Management; New products
Other titles: Third way to innovate for market success
Description: Conventional wisdom today says that to survive, companies must move beyond incremental, sustaining innovation and invest in some form of radical innovation. "Disrupt yourself or be disrupted!" is the relentless message company leaders hear. The Power of Little Ideas argues there's a "third way" that is neither sustaining nor disruptive. This low-risk, high-reward strategy is an approach to innovation that all company leaders should understand so that they recognize it when their competitors practice it, and apply it when it will give them a competitive advantage. This distinctive approach has three key elements: It consists of creating a family of complementary innovations around a product or service, all of which work together to make that product more appealing and competitive. The complementary innovations work together as a system to carry out a single strategy or purpose. Crucially, unlike disruptive or radical innovation, innovating around a key product does not change the central product in any fundamental way. In this powerful, practical book, Wharton professor David Robertson illustrates how many well-known companies, including CarMax, GoPro, LEGO, Gatorade, Disney, USAA, Novo Nordisk, and many others, used this approach to stave off competitive threats and achieve great success. He outlines the organizational practices that unintentionally torpedo this approach to innovation in many companies and shows how organizations can overcome those challenges. Aimed at leaders seeking strategies for sustained innovation, and at the quickly growing numbers of managers involved with creating new products, The Power of Little Ideas provides a logical, organic, and enduring third way to innovate.--
Notes: "A Low-risk, high-reward approach to innovation."-- Cover.

Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Preface: seeing innovation differently; title: How little innovations produce big results; title: LEGO and Apple Computers: masters of the third way; title: The four decisions and why they're difficult; title: Decision 1: What is your key product?; title: Decision 2: What is your business promise?; title: Decision 3: How will you innovate?; title: Decision 4: How will you deliver your innovations?; title: Lessons from an American icon.