The 10 Types of Innovation
What is this?
It is an analysis tool to assess existing solutions in the marketplace or to expand your thinking about possible areas of innovation. Innovative organizations usually have a combination of innovative tactics to remain competitive in today’s marketplace.
How does it work?
Innovation tactics are divided into three categories: Configuration, Offering, and Experience. You can pick one area or a few to innovate.
When do I use this?
When analyzing competitors, it is important to understand how they are innovating, so you can identify ways your product or service can overcome the competition.
Where can I find more information?
Book: https://doblin.com/ten-types
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjL6t6LlcHs&t=643s (13 minutes)
Download PDF: https://doblin.com/dist/images/uploads/TenTypesInnovation.pdf
Configuration: Focuses on the company's business system
- Profit Model: how you make money. Look up different pricing models such as subscription, buy-now-pay-later, and add-ons. ase study: Gilette’s model sells one item at a low price but charges complementary goods, such as razor blades, at retail.
- Network Model: How you create value by connecting with others
- Case study: P&G and OraLabs fostered open innovation by collaborating to create a lip balm. Another example is Archer and United Airlines.
- Structure: How you organize and align your assets and talents
- Case study: Assets -> Vertical farming is used in Singapore due to scarce natural resources
- Talents -> Zappos reorganized their structure where there were no job titles, managers, or hierarchy. Teams operate like small independent businesses with individual budgets.
- Case study: Assets -> Vertical farming is used in Singapore due to scarce natural resources
- Process: How you use your signature or superior methods to do your work
- Case study: Toyota is known for its lean six sigma process designed to reduce waste and excess while focusing on continuous improvements over many years. It allowed for cheaper cars that didn’t compromise quality.
Offering: Focuses on the company’s core products or services
- Product Performance: How you distinguish features and functionality.
- Improving existing products and product lines or creating new products to create value
- Improving quality, price, safety, ease-of-use or sustainability of the product or service
- Product System: How you create complementary products & services
- How individual products and services connect or bundle together to create a robust and scalable system
- E.g., Google has Google maps, Gmail, and Calendar, and Apple has Apple Store, iTunes, and Zapier, which help automate systems.
- Ultimately, you want to optimize your product ecosystem to create value in more than one way.
- Service: How you support and amplify the value of your offering
- How do you make your product easier to try, use and enjoy? What areas customers might overlook or is of annoyances that can be fixed?
- E.g., Guarantees, free trials, self-service systems, and supplementary or superior service.
Experience: Focuses on the company’s outward-facing elements of the business; the entire customer experience
- Channel Innovation: How you deliver your offerings to your customers and users.
- The goal is to get users what they want, how they want it, with minimal friction, cost, and maximum delight.
- Often works in conjunction with other types of innovation.