14 Ways to Describe 3 Levels of Innovation
From continuous improvement, through the development of next generation, to the creation of a new family, there are typically three different levels of innovation, that can be described in many ways depending on what aspect of innovation you want to emphasize. Here are 14 ways.
Please add to the list!
| Description | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 |
| By degree of change | Marginal | Incremental | Radical |
| By scale of newness | New version | New product | New category |
| By business objective | Defend | Grow | Transform |
| By McKinsey | Horizon 1 | Horizon 2 | Horizon 3 |
| By impact on capabilities | Sustain | Stretch | Disrupt |
| By medieval metaphor | Shield | Sword | Spear |
| By nature of uncertainty | Distribution curve | Fail or succeed probability | Unknown unknown |
| By most critical question | How (is it better?) | What (is the new proposition?) | Where (might we find new territories?) |
| By most critical success factor | Execution | Design | Exploration |
| By business case | Pay-back time | NPV (Net Present Value) | Story |
| By ancient Olympics | Stronger | Faster | Higher |
| By Nintendo | any new version | DS | Wii |
| By Apple | MacBook | iPad | iPod/iTunes |
| by car engine | any new combustion engine | Hybrid | Electric |
What other ways can you add to the list?
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Yann Cramer is an innovation learner, practitioner, sharer, teacher. He’s lived in France, Belgium and the UK, he’s travelled six continents to create development opportunities with customers or suppliers, and run workshops on R&D and Marketing. He writes on www.innovToday.com and on twitter @innovToday.
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