The Seven Stages of Innovation

In the past, I have spoken about the process of innovation (see Hot or Not and Hype Cycles). These posts utilized the Gartner model to show how a product or idea progresses through several stages before it moves from an idea into a useful product (see chart below). This model provides a means to understand the technical stages innovation undertakes.

The Gartner Model is a type of model that businesses use to outline their business or product offering. With it, an organization can determine what types of customers they should target and which offerings would benefit those customers the most. To create such a model, many different factors must be considered – these may include who the customers are, what they value most, how much they are willing to pay, and what products or services can satisfy their needs.

Gartner has outlined the model in five different stages through which an organization goes when developing a product or service. The first stage is known as “innovators”, or customers who are interested in trying out new technology. These customers will be willing to pay a premium for products that provide them with the latest technology. The second stage is “early adopters”, who are also interested in new technology but are less willing than innovators to pay premiums. Customers in the early majority, however, may be more willing to buy if they can get it at an affordable price. Late majority customers wait until something is proven before they are willing to buy. They have little interest in paying premiums but will be willing to pay fair market value for a product. The fifth and final stage is that of “laggards”, or customers who typically wait until it is very popular since they are less likely to be comfortable with new technology.

These stages can be used to determine how much a company can charge for its product or service. An organization should try to find the most price-sensitive market in order to make sure they remain profitable. Using this model, a business can better identify who its customers are and how best to approach them.

Gartner has developed a map of sorts to illustrate these stages, which can be found below.

The Gartner Model for Humans

However, what about the human side of innovation? How do we as people impact the innovation process? How do we respond to it?

Morgan Housel recently outlined the different stages people go through when we adopt a new innovation. He outlines seven steps which big breakthroughs typically follow:

1. First, no one’s heard of you.
2. Then they’ve heard of you but think you’re nuts.
3. Then they understand your product, but think it has no opportunity.
4. Then they view your product as a toy.
5. Then they see it as an amazing toy.
6. Then they start using it.
7. Then they couldn’t imagine life without it.

To illustrate this Housel showed that some of the greatest innovations of the last century – the telephone, the automobile and flight – were all unheralded and criticized widely at the genesis of their innovation cycle. However, over time these steps have come to fruition and we now view all of this list as things we cannot do without.

While these seven steps focus on products, I believe they also apply to ideas. As leaders, we need to anticipate that new ideas will result in skepticism and opposition. After all, “we’ve never done it that way before”. However, this model shows that successful ideas will require determination, perseverance, and communication.

Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, provides a perfect summary:

“Invention requires a long-term willingness to be misunderstood. You do something that you genuinely believe in, that you have conviction about, but for a long period of time, well-meaning people may criticize that effort … if you really have conviction that they’re not right, you need to have that long-term willingness to be misunderstood. It’s a key part of invention”.

Jeff Suderman is a futurist, consultant, and professor who works in the field of organizational development. He partners with clients to improve culture, leadership, teamwork, organizational alignment, strategy and organizational future-readiness. He resides in Palm Desert, California. Twitter: @jlsuderman Email: jeff@jeffsuderman.com

Source: Morgan Housel