Driving Disruptive Innovation: Problem Finding and Strategy Setting in an Uncertain World

Abstract

OVERVIEW:Driving innovation—particularly disruptive innovation—demands that companies possess a deep understanding of the nonobvious problems that will need to be solved in the future. Gaining this understanding requires that companies scan their external environment, identify trends, and then envision future problem states from the perspective of end users or customers. Such an outside-in view is difficult for successful incumbent firms that already possess a dominant logic about their markets and competitive drivers. Strategic roadmapping provides the means to help companies develop this outside-in view and challenge their current competitive perspectives. Here we present a 10-step methodology for strategic roadmapping and show how one group at Intel was able to use this process to envision the future of its business in new ways.