Return on Innovation: Are You Playing Offense or Defense?

One of the key lessons I learned from posting on LinkedIn an early draft of my next book (Zone to Win: Organizing to Compete in an Age of Disruption) is that disruptive innovations can be occasions both for playing offense and defense. Indeed the two case studies in the book—Salesforce and Microsoft—ended up representing a great example of each. Both companies are applying the Four Zones model I describe, both are innovating like crazy, but Salesforce is playing offense, and Microsoft is playing defense, so their focus and emphasis are strikingly different. Here’s why.

Return on innovation can come from three sources. The first and best known isdifferentiation. Here customers select your offer instead of your competitor’s because it provides unique value they can only get from you, value they are often willing to pay a premium price for as well. This is just goodness.

Read the full post here.