Too Much of a Good Thing
Can you innovate too much? After all, new ideas fuel organic growth. One would think an organization would be happy to have as many ideas as possible.
But not always. Here are scenarios where over-innovating might be considered too much of a good thing.
1. When you are over-positioned: Too many good ideas could lead you to an extreme position in the market where you stop earning at the middle and bottom ends of the market. Most companies crave the premium end of the market, but overdoing it can backfire.
Example: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center has done such a great job at innovating in its domain that it’s considered in the top three U.S. children’s hospitals. Therein lies the problem. The local market may see Cincinnati’s Children’s as so advanced and innovative that parents are reluctant to take their kids there for routine health issues – bumps, bruises, fevers, and so on. It becomes the place to go only when their child is sick with a deadly disease – cancer and the like. Fortunately, the hospital recognized the risk and took measures to stay competitive for routine visitations.
2. When you are under capacity: Generating new ideas puts pressure on an organization. New ideas must be evaluated, filtered, and developed. This takes time and resources. People are distracted from their regular day jobs and they feel overwhelmed. Too many ideas may exceed the organization’s capacity to make sense of it all. Idea fatigue sets in
Example: A major player in aerospace wanted to create a new digital app solution for its customers. The app was intended to retrieve sensor data from aircraft components and relay it into a useful smartphone application. The team slowed to a near halt. It had collected several hundred ideas from many different sources and consolidated them into a massive database. The team couldn’t possible manage the abundance of ideas and it was unable to move forward.