Comments on: Why market leaders don’t innovate

By: Matthew Buckland

Matthew Buckland — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:15:03 +0000

This is a great post Henk…really enjoyed it. Google have found a way around this via their 10% rule where employees can explore their own ventures: resulted in Google News, Gmail, Orkut and others….

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By: Jonno Cohen

Jonno Cohen — Fri, 23 May 2008 11:28:53 +0000

Seth Godin has written a lot about people’s and organisations’ resistance to change and innovation. He’s discusssed how innovators become market leaders by changing the game, but then try to maintain the status quo, even in the face of evidence that this is a mistake (e.g. the big record labels over the last 10-15 years).

As to why we do this, I attended a talk yesterday by Nicola Tyler who specialises in Edward de Bono’s ideas of lateral thinking. That it’s natural to stick with the familiar and resist new stimuli isn’t surprising. What’s fascinating is the methods and techniques he’s developed that can help us avoid these pitfalls.

Very interesting stuff, thanks for the post!

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By: Eve Dmochowska

Eve Dmochowska — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:52:00 +0000

@Joe

Those quotes from Mr Drucker that you mention were uttered in 1995.. a time when he felt comfortable enough to also mention that the “computer industry, as an industry, hasn’t made a dime?”

I think a lot has changed since then, not only in the computer industry ;-), but in the whole methodology of how companies approach innovation.

Hence, I do think that situations can exist where pioneers become the dominant producers.

Moreover, I have a gut feeling that Drucker was wrong. I am sure that there are pioneers=dominant producers case scenarios in pre-1995 history. Medicine is the field where I would start to research this, but there must be countless more examples.

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By: Henk Kleynhans

Henk Kleynhans — Fri, 23 May 2008 07:37:20 +0000

Joe,

Although I believe there’s a special place in hell for people who electrocute live animals, I think Edison is rightly credited for the light bulb, at least the ‘long-lasting’ one!

But yeah, I agree, Pioneers get the arrows, settlers get the land!

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By: Henk Kleynhans

Henk Kleynhans — Fri, 23 May 2008 06:43:34 +0000

Hey Callum,

Yes, it was meant to leave you hanging. However, the TechLeader sub-editor took out my “leave you hanging” ellipses.

So here it is again:

…

Sorry about that.

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By: Callum

Callum — Fri, 23 May 2008 01:02:36 +0000

Great piece, but what happened to the conclusion? Is it supposed to leave us hanging? Was that your intention? Part of your cunning plan to have us consider the point ourselves?

I feel like I’ve been left hanging waiting for the words of wisdom, even something as simple as “Are you a market leader or an innovator? Are you trying to be both?”

Nice article, I’ll pop this new blog of yours onto my feedreader Henk!

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By: Joe

Joe — Thu, 22 May 2008 17:56:40 +0000

“But may I respectfully point out that there has been no case in history where the pioneer became the dominant producer, whether you are talking about a business or a science. The most successful innovators are the creative imitators, the Number Two.”

“Edison didn’t invent the lightbulb. That’s an American myth.

The man who invented the lightbulb was an English physicist. Actually, there were about five or six people working on the lightbulb at the same time.”

from:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/4.08/drucker_pr.html

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By: Eve Dmochowska

Eve Dmochowska — Thu, 22 May 2008 12:35:17 +0000

Great post!

But I think that market leaders, today, have no choice but innovate. If they don’t they’ll be toast in no time.

And I think they know it.

And those that aren’t market leaders (yet) know that it is only through lightning speed innovation, and standing on the shoulders of giants, that they can take that spot.

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