Incremental Innovation – The What, Why, and How

Innovation is often associated with disruptive technology-based innovations, but most innovation in companies is actually incremental in nature. Incremental innovation involves making minor improvements to existing products, services, processes, or methods. While not as exciting, the effect of repeatedly making these small changes over time can lead to a significant difference in performance. In deciding how much effort to focus on incremental innovation, scale and maturity are two key considerations. For existing organizations, the 70-20-10 framework suggests a focus on incremental innovation, with longer-term projects for building future growth. Examples of incremental innovation include product and service improvements, process automation, minimizing waste, and internal process and tool improvement. Best practices for getting started include identifying the most likely targets, moving quickly to achieve measurable quick wins, creating predictable pipelines for incremental innovation, and accelerating the pace of change.