Innovations are a central part of a company's progress in a changing and new world. Established firms must continually develop new strategies to both compete in the existing market and create the markets of tomorrow without falling behind. Small investments in their own innovation bets are a great way for companies to prepare for new ideas and technologies. The insights gained from these bets either justify further investments or lead to their rejection.
Here are ten reasons why you should start investing in small innovation bets today:
1. Save money: Small innovation bets help save money and resources by better utilizing innovation resources and avoiding innovation theater.
2. Make better decisions: They assist companies in making better decisions by comparing and understanding the results of various options using data, thus reducing innovation risks quickly.
3. Make faster decisions: Small innovation bets enable companies to make quicker decisions. They can develop, validate, and launch or invalidate and stop a new idea in a short time.
4. Foster creativity: These bets help anchor innovation in a company's culture and foster creativity in every employee. Companies can experiment with new ideas and find new ways to improve their products and services or meet new market demands.
5. Improve cost efficiency: Small innovation bets help improve cost efficiency. Companies can quickly implement new technologies to optimize their organizational and process costs.
"…companies and government agencies typically adopt innovation activities (hackathons, design thinking classes, innovation workshops, et al.) that result in innovation theater. These activities shape and build culture, but they don’t win wars, and they rarely deliver shippable/deployable product."
Steve Blank
6. Explore new markets: These bets help companies discover and tap into new markets. Through new technologies, they can reach target groups that have been underserved or neglected until now.
7. Increase flexibility: They help companies increase their flexibility. By capturing and distributing market signals at the frontline (Innovation Infopipe), companies can quickly respond to changes and new developments.
8. Minimize risk: Small innovation bets help minimize innovation risk. Companies can test new ideas early, reducing the risk of investing in products and services that nobody wants.
9. Leverage new technologies: These bets help companies leverage new technologies. They can explore new technologies and consider the outcomes and impacts on their value chain and business models before others do.
10. Create competitive advantages: Small innovation bets help companies gain competitive advantages. They can deploy new technologies faster than competitors or better adapt to disruptive new players and the required business model innovations.
In summary, small innovation bets are a great way for companies to prepare for new ideas and technologies. They help firms save money, make better decisions, improve cost efficiency in innovation, and access new markets more easily. They also foster creativity in the company's culture, empower organizations for innovation, minimize risks, leverage new technologies, and recognize and implement competitive advantages.
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