Innovation strategy

 A world without innovation, can you imagine it?

How would we do without technological advances, which have allowed us to communicate with each other more easily?

A company without an innovation strategy is quite simply a table without a pillar!

In the current environment in which we live, it is difficult for a company to stand out from its competitors without coming up with a new or different concept.

Thomas edison, inventor of the light bulb, Steve Jobs, creator of the iPhone, and Elon Mask, the inventor of Tesla, are among the great innovators who have marked history.

Above all, an innovation always starts with a simple idea that can turn out to be brilliant. The latter cannot be frozen since it must enter into a validation process which will increase its chances of success.

“Nothing is lost, nothing is created: everything is transformed”.

This famous phrase by Antoine Laurent de Lavoisier (1743-1794), confirms that it is not a question of creating but of improving what already exists.

What is an innovation strategy?

As you will have understood, an innovation is above all an idea, most often banal, which resolves a real problem, while creating value: economic, financial, or other.

The innovation strategy is defined as the introduction of a new or different element in a product or a service, likely to improve its use.

The act of innovating leads to the introduction of new ideas, devices or methods.

Concretely, it is the process of discovering new ways of doing things.

Innovation is vital in the workplace.

It gives companies an advantage to enter markets more quickly, and allows them to better connect to developing markets. Something that can open up greater possibilities for them.

The innovation strategy can also help develop original concepts, while giving the innovator a proactive and confident attitude to take risks and move forward.

When a company has a culture of innovation, it grows easily.

Sure, proven methods can be reliable, but new things are worth trying.

According to the latest ranking of the 50 most innovative global companies , the giants Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Samsung are at the top of the list.

While the GAFA still consolidate their first place on the podium, other companies have evolved between 2019 and 2020, such as Huawei (evolution of 42 places) , thanks to its investment in research and development.

Innovation vs invention vs progress

Although these terms are often associated, they have different characteristics in their respective contexts of use.

An invention comes with a totally new concept or a product developed from a new raw material. It is not a pure creation since it would involve making new combinations.

Take for example, vaccines, or even the cell phone, as inventions.

An innovation strategy consists of introducing an improvement in the functioning of an existing product or service.

As an example, we can cite the smartphone, which consists of a product improvement - called incremental - which is none other than the mobile phone.

The two ideas, of invention or innovation type, having the common characteristic of novelty, are protected by an invention patent. The latter grants the company a temporary operating monopoly privilege to its holder.

Rather than asking what is the difference between progress and innovation, the correct question is "what is the relationship between innovation and progress?" ".

As simple as it may seem, innovation is the vector of progress. The latter being defined as a change - improvement - of a state, by making it pass from a black zone to a white zone.

The 4 types of innovation

If Joseph Schumpeter - one of the most famous economists - came up with 5 main forms of innovation ; in the business world, we often talk about 4 main types of innovation:

• Incremental innovation: these are regular, low risk minor improvements. It is the most common type in innovation strategy
• Adjacent innovation: this type of innovation is associated with the exploration of new horizons or new uses for an existing product or service with the aim of extending its lifespan. Take as an example, shoes whose field of application extends from sports to medical
  
• Disruptive or disruptive innovation: This innovation is mainly driven by a change, technological for example, often initiated by competitors. As its name suggests, this innovation breaks with the existing business model
  
• Radical innovation: Unlike disruptive innovation which is often initiated by competition, radical innovation comes with a “more daring” concept. It involves a great risk, since it involves creating a new need that fundamentally modifies the uses of an existing product or service.
  
• Other types of innovation: some of the other most popular types of innovation include
  

• frugal innovation which is a rather minimalist innovation, using minimal means, such as for example the Dacia logan
• and strategic innovation: this mainly affects the business model and the company's growth strategy, and can therefore include a breakthrough strategy

The S-curve: phases of the innovation strategy

An innovation strategy is characterized by two major phases of adoption of the product or service: imitation, and innovation

Are you an imitator or an innovator? The main difference lies in the adoption time.

While consumers wait for a new technology or product to be adopted and to show its performance potential (imitation often associated with word of mouth), others are ready to try that technology or product for the first time. times (innovative).

Known as the “ Bass Diffusion Model ”, this S-curve is used in the field of sales forecasting, via a specific formula by combining the effect of innovation with that of imitation.

How to integrate the innovation process into the business strategy?

Before being transformed into an innovative service or product, any idea begins with a phase of observation of the potential market, in particular the various uses to be improved.

The innovation strategy therefore follows a meticulous process to enable the company to progress.

It all starts with your positioning strategy . This defines your framework for your Marketing and communication actions, reflecting your ideal position on the market.

The virtuous cycle of innovation

Whether in the world of entrepreneurship or intrapreneurship, innovation is the vehicle for continuous value creation.

The innovation strategy allows companies and organizations to create new processes and to constantly question themselves.

There is therefore a virtuous circle through which a successful innovation strategy passes.

The absence of a methodology or a framework, or even the lack of rigor often lead to the failure of an innovation strategy.

Design Thinking as an innovation process

Design Thinking is a proven innovation approach.

Indeed, it is a  human-centered  design approach , which aims to design an innovative product or service.

The latter responds to a basic need  or problem that is technically feasible

The Design Thinking process is organized in 5 stages :

1. 1
   Empathy  : Which consists of identifying the user by applying techniques such as observation, interviewing, putting oneself in their shoes 
2. 2
   The definition : The translation of the results of the empathy phase into a need, and the definition of the problem
   
3. 3
   Ideation : The generation of ideas, in divergence mode and in the rough, focusing on numbers and ruling out judgment 
4. 4
   Prototyping  : Bringing ideas to life using simple means
5. 5
    Testing : Iterative mode where you test your prototypes, and collect feedback, better understand your users and improve your product