If you're like most people, you bet your career and company on innovation--
because you must.Payback: Reaping the Rewards of Innovationoffers you a new
way to think about and manage innovation that will dramatically improve the
odds of success. Authors James Andrew and Harold Sirkin, senior partners in
The Boston Consulting Group, describe an approach to managing innovation
based on the concept of a cash curve--which tracks investment against time.
They ask the questions you need to ask: How much should you invest in a new
product or service? How fast should you push it to market? How quickly can
you get to optimal value? How much additional investment should you pour
into sustaining and building the product or service? Paybackoffers you
practical and economically sound advice on when to pursue cash flow
indirectly by first pursuing other benefits, such as brand and knowledge.
It also shows you how to reshape the cash curve by using different business
models - integrator, orchestrator, and licenser - each of which balances
risk and reward differently. The authors then present a short list of
decisions and activities that you must make - not delegate - to achieve a
high return on innovation. You won't find facile answers inPayback- but you
will find valuable insights and practical guidance for mastering one of the
most challenging and critical business activities: innovation.