Strategic Innovation

So many bright ideas fade away at the execution stage—but it doesn’t have to be that way.

A new Harvard Business School Press book, "10 Rules for Strategic Innovators" looks at four categories of innovation:

1. Continuous process improvement
2. Process revolutions
3. Product or service innovations
4. Strategic innovations

Their major premise?

"Management theory has evolved rapidly over the past few decades. For example, the once-popular notion that the essence of strategy is to maintain stability has given way to acceptance that stability is illusory. Instead, strategists recognize that to stay ahead, corporations must always look for new markets and new sources of competitive advantage."

BOTTOMLINE: "Through cycles of boom and bust, a fundamental truth endures: Change is constant and often nonlinear. Financial markets are misleading, because change does not alternate between periods of hyperactivity and inertness. Through strategic innovation, corporations can not only stay ahead of change, they can create change. They can pile new successes on existing ones. They can consistently create, grow, and profit from new business models."