Framework library · Innovation and product
Innovation radar
Innovation is not only new products. The innovation radar sets out twelve dimensions on which a business can create new value, anchored on four: what it offers, whom it serves, how it works and where it reaches customers. Rating each dimension shows the shape of a company's innovation. A gap between that shape and what the strategy needs, or a dimension every rival ignores, is where to look next.
Use it when
- Innovation effort is concentrated on products and you suspect the bigger opportunities lie elsewhere, in pricing, channels or how the service is delivered.
- You want to compare your innovation profile with a competitor's and find dimensions nobody in the industry is working on.
- A new strategy needs different kinds of innovation, and you want to show which dimensions must move and by how much.
Avoid it when
- You need to choose between specific initiatives. The radar shows where to look, not which idea to back. Use the innovation ambition matrix or a scoring method.
- Only one dimension matters for the decision, such as a new pricing model. Work on that directly.
- The ratings would be made by one person. A single view of twelve dimensions is mostly that person's area of expertise.
How to run it
Agree the period and the comparison
Rate what the business has done over the last three years, against the industry rather than against its own past.
Rate each dimension with an example
Score how true each statement is of the business. Every score above 2 needs a named example of something that changed.
Set where you need to be
Using the strategy, set a target for each dimension. Not every dimension needs a high score; a few deliberate choices beat an even spread.
Read the gaps and the empty spaces
Large gaps between now and needed are the agenda. Dimensions where neither you nor rivals innovate may be the most open opportunity.
Turn the gaps into initiatives
For the two or three largest gaps, name an initiative, an owner and a first test. Write them in the so-what section.
Work through it
Answer the questions below, or load the worked example to see a finished one. The drawing updates as you type. Export the result as a PowerPoint deck, a Word document, an Excel workbook, a PDF or plain text.
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Mistakes to avoid
- Counting activity as innovation. A dimension scores only if customers or the business got substantial new value from the change.
- Setting high targets on all twelve. A strategy that innovates everywhere has not chosen.
- Rating once and filing it. The profile is worth most when repeated each year alongside the strategy review.
Where it comes from
Mohanbir Sawhney, Robert C. Wolcott and Inigo Arroniz, "The 12 Different Ways for Companies to Innovate", MIT Sloan Management Review 47(3), Spring 2006. The statements here are our own, one per dimension, and are not the authors' measurement instrument. Source.
Use it with
Work through it with us
The frameworks here are free to use as they stand. If you would rather work through the question behind this one with us, these are the ways an engagement starts.