I normally don’t talk explicitly about innovation, especially because it is a product of creativity, so I rather talk about creativity instead.
But since this month the central subject of this newsletter was “creative work” (in a general sense), makes sense to talk about innovation in creative work.
In a nutshell, innovation means “introduce something new” (in-nova).
But today, innovation may have embraced some new meanings. I recently came across this wonderful matrix by Jeroen Kraaijenbrink which made me think about where we can apply innovation in the workplace.
Jeroen explains how both axis works:
Inward-Outward axis
Outward-oriented innovations are those innovations that are mostly targeted at the market, at doing something new for customers. Inward-oriented innovations, on the other hand, are innovating the organization itself.
Operational-Strategic axis
Operational innovations are typically quite technical and tangible and focused on practical work and output. Strategic innovations, on the other hand, regarding how the organization is functioning overall and how it creates value.
This leads to the following four types of innovation:
1. Product Innovation. The most well-known type of innovation is in which you change, improve, or renew an organization’s products and/or services, or create new ones.
2. Process Innovation. Often efficiency and quality are driven to improve the way the organization works on a day-to-day basis. This can concern any type of process.
3. Business Model Innovation. A newer type focused on changing how the organization creates and captures value. Often focused on developing new revenue models.
4. Management Innovation. Less commonly known but critical, this type concerns innovating how an organization is organized, managed, and led. Often implies decentralization.
So, I extend Jeroen’s question to you:
Do you have sufficient initiatives in all quadrants?
And, which type of innovation should get priority now?