Becoming more strategic

The most successful companies over time are those that are good at innovation. BTW - we define innovation as the ongoing process of developing new, relevant, commercial value; not necessarily new products.

But within the broad practice of innovation there are different approaches which can be chosen.

‘In 2007, the Global Innovation 1000 study identified three fundamental kinds of companies, each with its own distinct way of approaching and managing the R&D process and its relationship to customers and markets. Every company tends to follow one of these three innovation models; we can categorize companies as being Need Seekers, Market Readers, or Technology Drivers.'

• Need seekers (like Apple) make it their job to find the unstated needs of the customer in the future by using strategic foresight methodologies and then ensure that they are the first to address them.
• Market readers (like Samsung) are the 'fast followers' who are quick on the heels of the need seekers, their approach is to quickly replicate the successes of the pioneering innovators.
• Technology Drivers (like Google) aim to deliver customer value through their superior ability to develop technologically-driven innovations. Customers are drawn to the value created because of this superior leveraging of technology.

Interestingly the study concluded that not one of these approaches is necessarily superior to the others, but what was consistent amongst all of the innovators that demonstrated category outperformance was how consistently well they executed on their chosen strategic approach and how focused their were on customer needs. For the top performers, innovation isn't a 'nice to have'; it's who they are.

Successful companies work hard on becoming more strategic.

The best innovators ensure that the entire business aligns with the strategy, that they hire the right people and enable the right culture to support the strategy. They make sure that they have the right tools and processes and practices in place so that what they are trying to create in theory manifests in behaviour and outcome.

They try to figure out where the opportunities might be before the opportunities become apparent to everyone. They get close to customers to understand what their needs might be tomorrow. They constantly explore ways in which they can develop a superior position in the marketplace thanks to better insights as to how the market might change.

Becoming more strategic is an ongoing practice that includes a commitment to quality thinking and insights but one that also emerges as a coherent set of desired actions and outcomes. It happens as a result of a conscious decision to follow a path that is expansionary in a specific manner rather than passive as its influence created in the past slowly fades away.