Innovation Strategy - 3 Tracks to Fast Track Innovative Ideas

Innovation management can learn from the world of NASCAR, which has three separate auto racing configurations, each requiring a different set of skills and strategies. By thinking about innovation as a set of different tracks, a company can approach ideas in different ways, with different resources allocated to each track. The “Innovation Dragway” is for obvious, tactical innovations to improve processes, while the “Innovation Dirt Track” is for rough and tumble innovation, where the emphasis is on trying things out, and the “Innovation Superspeedway” is for more methodical and deliberate innovative breakthroughs. By thinking about these different tracks, companies can be more effective at quickly getting innovations to market.