Customer Reviews

The Power of Strategy Innovation: A New Way of Linking Creativity and Strategic Planning to Discover Great Business Opportunities

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For those of us who are familiar with the more traditional approach to strategic planning, beginning with vision, mission, goals & objectives, strategies and tactics, this book presents a novel approach to strategy. What I particularly liked is how Johnston and Bate use creativity and innovation as a key element in their process to increase the chance of getting breakthrough results rather than incremental improvements.

While more "out of the box" techniques are used, it by no means lacks structure in the process. At the end of each planning phase, process tips provide a summary of the key points. The book also includes a number of case studies that grounds the process to real industry examples.

If you are interested in understanding how making the future clear will make the present even clearer, read this book.

The last time I checked, Amazon and Borders offer 53,515 books which discuss strategy; 12,520 on innovation and 1,036 on strategy innovation. Is there anything new to add? Perhaps the more appropriate question is: Given the needs and interests of my organization, which approach to strategy innovation makes the most sense? In their Introduction, Johnston and Bate observe, "What we describe in this book is a phase-by-phase approach to the process of strategy innovation, not step-by-step. We provide the blueprint and encourage you [their reader] to customize it for the specific needs of your company and your industry." That is a promise on which they deliver. In fact, they provide invaluable advice on how to "customize" the phase-by-phase approach they describe.

They carefully organize their material within three Parts. In Chapters 1-4, they outline what strategy innovation is, what it is not, and suggest how to integrate it effectively. In Chapters 5-10, they offer specific guidance for implementing a strategy innovation initiative which they call the "Discovery Process." It has five phases: Staging, Aligning, Exploring, Creating, and Mapping. I hasten to add that, with appropriate modifications, this process can be use by any organization, regardless of size or nature. Then in Chapters 11 and 12, they offer a rigorous and probing analysis of the Discovery Process within a real-world setting. Of special interest to me is their use of FAQ in Chapter 11 and their outline of "key considerations" in the final chapter. In the Epilogue, Johnston and Bate share their thoughts about the future of strategy innovation. I also appreciate their clever use of a series of "Process Tips" (accompanied by brief comments) which should be highlighted (or otherwise noted) to facilitate a periodic review of the book's key points. Here are three examples:

"Strategy Innovation is best achieved by leaping ahead and working backward." (page 34)

"A strategic frontier is that unexplored area of potential growth that lies between today's business and tomorrow's opportunities." (page 113)

"It is easier to build feasibility into an innovative idea than to build innovation into a feasible idea." (page 203)

The material is sound, well-organized, and skillfully presented. I think those who read this book will my high regard for it while realizing, as Johnston and Bate correctly point out, "Strategy innovation is not a typical, quantitative goal, so it should not be communicated to employees in a rational, quantitative way. Strategy innovation is a bold leap into a new future. It is a rallying cry for growth, a clarion call to lead others into the future, to achieve new levels of performance and success." Quite true.

But if strategy innovation initiatives lack passion, if they fail to excite the heart and stimulate the mind, and if they are incremental and cautious, they are certain to fail.

I am an executive in a business planning and strategy function. I have read many books on the subject of Innovation. This book was unique to me with the focus on strategy innovation and the well defined methodology described to work through the process. Believe me, it caused several nights of insomnia as I couldn't help thinking about ways I could use this information on different problems I was trying to solve. In addition, I found the authors highly responsive as I followed up with them to explore potential opportunities to collaborate. These guys know their stuff! I have recommended this book to others in my company who were looking to develop new product strategies. I think this is a must read for people who are serious about customer and market focused strategy execution.

One of the challenges I have faced with much of the innovation literature is that it is written exclusively from the historical "case study" perspective. Hindsight is easy, foresight is difficult, and finding effective generalizations applicable beyond the narrow retrospective of an author's case studies is nearly impossible.

Johnston and Bate have succeeded in achieving this nearly impossible task. These authors take a different perspective (from other innovation authors) and offer a framework for Strategy Innovation - which not to be confused with Strategic Planning. Strategic Planning focuses on building value in current markets through an analytical analysis of the current business conditions and models. Strategy Innovation, by contrast, is defined as creating new value through a creative - insights-driven - iterative approach, where companies leap ahead to define where they want to be and then "work backwards" in order to achieve the future goal.

The strengths of this book are three-fold.
1. The book is more than a retrospective case study - it is about developing the process of how to go about incorporating innovation.
2. The Strategy Innovation process described by the authors can be implemented without first requiring radical disruption of the organization or its processes - thus reducing the initial cost and organizational resistance to implementation. For example, Strategic Planning remains - but it should be guided by the Strategic Innovation process.
3. The book is well-written and well-edited.