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Strategy and Innovation generate competitive advantage
Over the past few years, I’ve seen many excellent speakers on the topic of breakthrough innovation and creative problem solving. Among the more interesting were: Claudia Kotchka, Clayton Christensen, David Swift, Renee Mauborgne and Vijay Govindarajan. What intrigued me about these speakers was their focus on shifting the frame of reference in order to identify breakthrough innovations. Innovation and strategy are not separate steps, but create a dynamic platform 
I see it this way: If innovation is not strategic, it’s not innovative enough. If strategy is not innovative, it’s not an effective strategy. It’s that simple. The two cannot be seen as independent processes delegated to separate departments. Innovation and strategy are a dynamic conversation. There has to be interaction. Unless you capitalize on the opportunities for intersectional thinking, you miss the opportunity to move from the red ocean to the blue ocean.
As Mauborgne and Kim explained in The Blue Ocean Strategy, unless you create new space, it is nearly impossible to control the opportunity.
I speak often about the importance of reframing the question. This is a critical step toward moving beyond the obvious. Honestly, this technique is by far, the one that has brought me the greatest successes in my career. But, until you view the problem differently, all solutions are remarkably similar.
It’s too easy to look at a situation and try to solve the problem you see on the surface as the real problem. Clayton Christensen defines the alternative beautifully. See: Creating Products that Do the Job.
The obvious problem is like a symptom of a disease. Addressing the symptom does not cure the disease. Thinking patterns that address superficial symptoms are not the path to breakthroughs, but a path to incremental change. It is an obfuscation which diverts real innovative thinking. And, unfortunately, chasing illusions does not produce the same results as focusing on reality.
When strategy and innovation are coordinated, the ability to identify the real blue ocean opportunity and to build an industry-shifting breakthrough is a real possibility.
Chas Martin
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Reader Comments (1)
I think this really is a great post which sheds new light when it comes to strategy and its place in the ever-changing world. I agree to a great extent with the view that innovation is an essence when it comes to sustainable and value-based strategy.
I would like to share just an important aspects when it comes to the implementation of this approach. If you want to change things as a leader and be innovative, you need to change perceiption first, not reality; I bet that starting a company which is per definitionem innovative and creative will have atmosphere much more easily that you described above. However, changing a previosly not-innovative-focused corporation is way too difficult. It needs to have a paradigm shift.
Thank you for the article!
Gergely Gazdag