We covered the Innovator’s Dilemma with Matthew Christensen in the first part of this series, but we did not cover Chapter 7 of the Innovator’s Dilemma,that chapter Is entitled “Discovering New and Emerging Markets” It opens as follows: “Markets that do not exist cannot be analyzed: Suppliers and customers must discover them together. Not only are the market applications for disruptive technologies unknown at the time of their development, they are unknowable. The strategies and plans that managers formulate for confronting disruptive technological change, therefore, should be plans for learning and discovery rather than plans for execution. This is a crucial point to understand because managers who believe they know a market’s future will plan and invest very differently from those who recognize the uncertainties of a developing market.” You may know those to be the words of Clayton Christensen, but what you may not know is that this concept of discovery-driven growth stems from the work of a very special friend of the Innovation Show, it is an immense pleasure to welcome Rita McGrath.

Topics on this episode:

00:00:00 - Intro and Sponsor 00:02:28 Rita McGrath Welcome 00:04:15 Clayton Christensen Relationship 00:07:35 Discovery-Driven Planning 00:12:05 Client Example of Too Attached to Outcome 00:13:23 Redefining Failure: Failing Fast is Not Always Failing 00:14:04 Example of Varo Bank 00:18:51 KittyHawk Example 00:20:54 The Role of Luck 00:24:51 Honda SuperCub and NonConsumers 00:27:50 Jobs To Be Done and The McLean Hamburger 00:29:51 Origins of Discovery-Driven Planning 00:31:41 Most Mutations in Nature Fail, as do most ideas 00:32:47 Origins of Innovation Thinking From Schumpeter to Today 00:34:08 Discovery-Driven Planning Overview in a Nutshell 00:37:55 Disasters: EuroDisney 00:42:09 Disasters: PolaVision 00:43:15 Organisational Capabilities, Arenas and Kao 00:46:23 Selling an Idea to a CFO/Incumbent Gatekeeper 00:51:06 UPM Example: United Paper Mills Example 00:55:00 R.A.C.E.

Broadcast on:

29 Jan 2023