Discovery-Driven Planning with Rita Gunther McGrath The Clayton Christensen Tribute

We covered the Innovator’s Dilemma with Matthew Christensen in the first part of this series, but we did not cover Chapter 7 of the Innovator’s Dilemma,that chapter Is entitled “Discovering New and Emerging Markets” It opens as follows:

“Markets that do not exist cannot be analyzed: Suppliers and customers must discover them together. Not only are the market applications for disruptive technologies unknown at the time of their development, they are unknowable. The strategies and plans that managers formulate for confronting disruptive technological change, therefore, should be plans for learning and discovery rather than plans for execution. This is a crucial point to understand because managers who believe they know a market’s future will plan and invest very differently from those who recognize the uncertainties of a developing market.”

You may know those to be the words of Clayton Christensen, but what you may not know is that this concept of discovery-driven growth stems from the work of a very special friend of the Innovation Show, it is an immense pleasure to welcome Rita McGrath.

Topics Covered on this episode: 

00:00:00 - Intro and Sponsor

00:02:28 Rita McGrath Welcome

00:04:15 Clayton Christensen Relationship

00:07:35 Discovery-Driven Planning

00:12:05 Client Example of Too Attached to Outcome

00:13:23 Redefining Failure: Failing Fast is Not Always Failing

00:14:04 Example of Varo Bank 

00:18:51 KittyHawk Example

00:20:54 The Role of Luck

00:24:51 Honda SuperCub and NonConsumers

00:27:50 Jobs To Be Done and The McLean Hamburger

00:29:51 Origins of Discovery-Driven Planning

00:31:41 Most Mutations in Nature Fail, as do most ideas

00:32:47 Origins of Innovation Thinking From Schumpeter to Today

00:34:08 Discovery-Driven Planning Overview in a Nutshell

00:37:55 Disasters: EuroDisney

00:42:09 Disasters: PolaVision

00:43:15 Organisational Capabilities, Arenas and Kao

00:46:23 Selling an Idea to a CFO/Incumbent Gatekeeper 

00:51:06 UPM Example: United Paper Mills Example

00:55:00 R.A.C.E.

Find Rita here:

https://www.ritamcgrath.com/

Find Valize here:

https://www.valize.com/