Intro to disruptive innovation
Disruptive innovation is aiming at replacing existing solutions with something significantly better . It requires a special collective mindset and a different method than with incremental innovation, because you have to imagine and conceptualize solutions, that are not known today.
It is often problematic because most organizations act on the basis of tradition, routines and a deeply rooted perception of the world :
- The structural framework and conditions are given
- Your role and function in the organisation is more or less static
- Management strategy and planning aims to optimize the parameters that the industry already works on
- Focus is on benchmarking and best-practice – being the best in the present situation, measured on data from the past
- There is assumed to be a trade-off between value and cost
Difference between incremental and disruptive innovation
Innovation is not an exact science and there is no clear dividing line between the incremental development and disruptive innovation. I have tried below to illustrate the different types of innovation, and where I see the dividing line.
INCREMENTAL INNOVATION
Level 1: Enhancing innovation
Innovation that optimize your work in a specific situation . For instance, a snow shovel, which works better than a regular shovel – in snow shoveling.
Level 2: Protective innovation
Innovation that helps you to make things right. For example, an online guide for a desktop application, which guide you, when you have specific problems using the application.
Level 3: Progressiv innovation
Innovation that improves things that already exist. For example, a wireless phone which makes it possible to move around in the house while you talk in the phone.
DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION
The Internet is an example of disruptive innovation
Leve 4: Reductive innovation
Innovation that reduces the complexity of a product, a service or a business model. One example is the Danish Tax Authorities automation of the data collection – on behalf of the citizen – to complete the citizen’s tax return. Today, the citizens only need to act, if they disagree with the automatic generated Annual Tax Statement.
Level 5: Adaptive innovation
Innovation using known concepts in new contexts . For example, medical care to the citizens applied remotely via the television and the Internet.
Level 6: Transforming innovation
Innovation that makes existing paradigms obsolete by replacing the existing state with a new state. The Internet itself is a transformational innovation, but it has also added a number of new services, which have radically changed our behaviorally patterns and work situation. One example is online banking, that has changed the relationship between the bank and the customer. The customer now do the work, which was previously done by the bank staff. They do it for free, and most of them are actually pleased with that!
Read about my methods to create disruptive innovation and business development..