HBR Innovation: Post #6--Classic Traps

Innovation: The Classic Traps by Rosabeth Moss Kanter (originally published in 2006). New products and services drive corporate growth; however, many companies do things that hurt them in the process, such as: 1) Investing in only blockbusters (stifles projects that could emerge); 2) process strangling (putting unrealistic performance measures around new products); and 3) launching too many small projects (creating confusion for customers). Kanter suggests avoiding strategy mistakes by funding a proportionate range of development from big bets to early stage ideas; avoiding process mistakes by adding some degree of flexibility to the budget; and avoiding structure mistakes by connecting innovators to mainstream business managers in the company.