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OUR APPROACH

Many of our clients come to us thinking they might have a disruptive idea (or ideas) on their hands. Or, they have too many ideas and need help focusing on the one with the most potential. They are essentially wondering:

  • How much potential does our idea have?
  • Which market offers the most promising foothold?
  • Which ideas should we prioritize?

How we respond

These inquiries may come from an entrepreneur or a team working in an established, incumbent firm. But no matter the size of a company or the experience level, our evaluation involves understanding how well the idea fits the pattern of disruptive innovation by looking at the customer, the technology, the business model, and the expected competitive response, as well as the assumptions that exist behind those elements.

Typically, if a team or individual comes to us with an idea (or ideas) to evaluate, we start by going through an introductory working session to get fully fluent in the disruptive concepts. We then assess the idea using our proprietary Innosight Opportunity Assessment System (I-OASYS). We do this collaboratively, so the client can learn to use the tool to assess future ideas, and/or perform multiple assessments.

I-OASYS involves evaluation of an idea against proven patterns of success — both universal patterns as well as those specific to an industry. It also factors an evaluation of certainty into the assessment, avoiding false precision and highlighting key assumptions. The result is a well-rounded view of how well an opportunity fits the pattern of success, as well as what are its strengths, key weaknesses, and potential "deal-killers."

The root of our evaluation is in finding answers to these four questions and in identifying the assumptions being made:

  1. Does it target an important job to be done? We believe that consumers don’t buy products — they hire them to get jobs done. A job is a problem that a particular consumer faces in a particular context. When the problem arises, the consumer "hires" the solution that gets the job done better than any alternative.
  2. Does it get the "gives" and "gets" right? A disruptive innovation trades off performance along one dimension for performance along another, such as simplicity, convenience, ability to customize, or price. The trick is to knowing which tradeoffs the consumer is willing to make.
  3. Does the business model limit fixed investment to maximize flexibility while thinking creatively about early sources of revenue? Our mantra is "be patient for growth, impatient for profits."
  4. Is the offering something that incumbents are not motivated to pursue? It has been proven time and time again that disruptive innovations have the highest chance of success in markets that powerful competitors are motivated to flee or ignore. If an incumbent is motivated to fight a sustaining battle, it will likely win.

After the engagement, the Innosight team can organize a series of deep coaching sessions with the individual or team to iterate the business plan over time, as more learning is acquired and assumptions are tested. These sessions can continue as long as it takes to enable the company to establish a foothold market with the disruptive offering. The timing of this follow up can range from six to twenty-four months, depending on the need.