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Incremental innovation

  • Writer: Ade McCormack
    Ade McCormack
  • Jul 28
  • 1 min read

What is Incremental innovation?

Incremental innovation is an approach to innovation where the associated risks are kept to a minimum. The argument is that if you do this rapidly over time this has the same impact as radical innovation but without the associated risk taking.


For intelligent organisations, Incremental innovation is the continuous improvement of products, services, processes or business models through a series of relatively low-risk changes. By sensing and responding to emerging opportunities over time, organisations can achieve substantial cumulative gains while avoiding many of the risks associated with large-scale transformational initiatives.


However incremental innovation, with its emphasis on risk management, might not deliver the radical innovations needed to remain viable. For example, incremental innovation in the automotive market will lead to vehicle improvements. But if the automotive market shrinks because of improved public transport or ride sharing apps, then this will not save the organisation.

 

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