Innovation Ambition Matrix

What it is

Like both the Three Horizons and the Growth-Share Matrix, it’s a tool for portfolio analysis of innovation efforts across the two dimensions of the Strategic Choice Cascade: Where to Play and How to Win. The “Where to Play” axis is defined by three positions: existing markets and customers, adjacent markets and customers, and new markets and customers. The “How to Play” is axis is also defined by three positions: existing products and assets, incremental products and assets, and new products and assets. The resulting matrix creates three spaces of innovation: core, adjacent, and transformational. 

When to use

As with the Three Horizons framework, you can use it in any situation where there is a portfolio of innovation and growth efforts, whether related to one service line or market offering or several.

When not to use

When there’s not a real portfolio of activity underway or an organization is not open to considering transformational possibilities, making that space null. 

Tradecraft tips

This tool is especially powerful when used in combination with the Strategic Choice Cascade, since the two frameworks can be linked through the Where to Play and How to Win dimensions. 

Source

“Managing Your Innovation Portfolio” article in Harvard Business Review by Bansi Nagji and Geoff Tuff, May 2012.

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