Research: How Disruption Can Harm Innovation

Having read the title of this post, I’ll bet I know what you’re thinking: Disruption is good! It’s the only way to innovate! It’s hard, and it’s rare, but it’s important! All of those statements are true. But there’s a time when disruption isn’t good, and that’s during the innovation process.

In my prior two posts, I addressed how most companies don’t have a common language of innovation, and that innovation communication breakdowns are common and occur frequently. In this final part of the series, let’s examine what kind of an impact these breakdowns have on the innovation process.

Communication Difficulties Result In The Unwanted Kind Of Disruption In Innovation

Our research shows that the 67% of innovation practitioners who report having experienced problems communicating about innovation over the past year have encountered a variety of disruptions to the innovation process. (Source: IX Research Survey, Q3 2013.) Specifically, 55% of these practitioners report experiencing a significant delay in moving an innovation initiative forward, which can mean missing key market opportunities. About one-third (32%) of these practitioners claim that communication issues resulted in a waste of financial resources. And a majority (57%) of this group report that these issues resulted in a waste of employee time, which can dissuade employees from participating in the future innovation initiatives.

Figure: Communication problems negatively impact the innovation process

Source: IX Research Survey, Q3 2013

The problem with poor innovation communication is clear, but the solution is readily available. As laid out in more detail in our report, a consistent language of innovation can help improve communication and overcome these unnecessary barriers to the innovation process, and help build a stronger culture of innovation within your organization.

Interested in getting an excerpt of this report for free?

Just sign up for the IX Research Panel by March 9, as I’ll be sending one out to all members on March 10.

If you want access to the full report, simply visit the IX Research page and subscribe. Your 12-month subscription will give you immediate access to the full 21-page report and 10 data figures plus the recommendations, as well as our previously published research reports.

image credit: bbc.co.uk

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Doug Williams, Chief Research Officer and Principal Analyst, leads the development of IX Research. Doug is the primary author of IX Research‘s syndicated research reports, and is responsible for the development of the IX Research Panel and IX Custom Research lines of business. A former analyst at both Forrester Research and JupiterResearch, he launched and led Forrester’s innovation and co-creation practice for product strategy professionals. He authored 36 highly rated Forrester Research reports on innovation, open innovation, and co-creation, and was the primary author and developer of Forrester’s Open Innovation playbook. Doug tweets from @DougWilliamsMHD.