You may feel you know a lot about innovation, but there’s always more to learn. Sometimes, turning it over to a totally different angle presents new and interesting sides of it that are not generally discussed. Here are five facts about innovation that even we were surprised by!
1. According to Clayton Christensen, a Harvard professor, 95% of all product innovations ultimately end in failure.
This is a very intriguing fact, isn’t it? However, this doesn’t mean it is a game of chance. If your product is as good as the iPhone, it will definitely succeed no matter what, and if it is as bad as the Zune, then it will fail badly no matter what. Quality is quality at the end of the day and it can’t be substituted by anything else, so never forget that!
2. The 2017 PwC Innovation Benchmark found that over 54% of innovating organizations are unable to effectively bridge the gap between their innovation strategy and their overall business strategy.
That’s certainly a concerning statistic. Innovation is a hurdle and many organizations fail to cross it. You can, however, always increase your chances by applying structured innovation and effective innovation strategies. You can leverage powerful innovation management tools to get the best innovation potential out of your organization.
3. The October 2008 McKinsey Quarterly reported on the results of a McKinsey Global Survey, stating that it found that the best performing innovators were much more likely to measure the innovation process as a whole as opposed to just the end results, and even had specified metrics that enabled them to utilize the metrics for assessing and optimizing the way they innovate.
Innovation is certainly a holistic process. You cannot just check a few boxes and say that you have implemented innovation. It permeates everything and is tied into everything you do, so make sure to consider that when applying anything related to innovation.
4. A 2011 Booz & Co. study found that organizations with highly aligned business and innovation strategies and an innovation-promoting culture have 30% higher growth on their enterprise’s value.
You cannot have innovation without growth and you cannot have growth without innovation. The two are deeply connected at the core and intertwined in every way. Innovation is the biggest possible growth hack you could ever implement!
5. A BCG 2017 survey found that the best innovators only based innovation on future revenues in 22% of cases.
Innovation may not have direct apparent payoffs in terms of your balance sheet. But it can have payoffs in a multitude of other ways as well, such as your employee satisfaction increasing from the employees being able to do more creative and satisfying work or management efficiency increasing from diversification of strategies and their implementation. Sometimes it may not be an immediate, huge payoff, but always remember – slow and steady wins the race!
Thus, we can see these five facts about innovation that examine a completely different perspective of it from the one that is commonly presented. Be sure to consider these facts when you are conceptualizing and formulating your innovation strategies to make sure they are innovative and efficient!