Your organization is torn between quick wins and sustainable innovation. How do you navigate the trade-offs?

Quick wins - Business Validation Stakeholder pleasing Growth confidence Bets within business units validation Sustainable Innovation - Cost viability understanding Longer tenure More detailed approach and success metric focussed approaches Stronger team collaboration High endurance approach

Quick wins are rapid prototyping and iterative development and efficient strategies for achieving breakthroughs in the product life cycle and gaining valuable insights. The "FAIL FAST & FAIL CHEAP" approach effectively demonstrates this principle. Quick wins are especially useful for testing the target market and gathering feedback to enhance the product and understand customer expectations.

Quick Wins offer immediate validation, boost morale, and can improve short-term financial performance. However, focusing solely on quick wins can divert resources from long-term goals. Sustainable Innovation ensures long-term growth and aligns with the broader strategic vision. Balancing these requires assessing immediate needs against long-term objectives and finding ways to integrate short-term achievements with long-term innovation strategies.

It requires endurance, foresight, and a deep-seated belief in the long game. Unlike the quick win, which offers immediate gratification, sustainable innovation is about sowing seeds for future growth. It's about investing in understanding your customer's evolving needs, exploring uncharted territories of technology, and building a foundation of knowledge that can be leveraged for years to come. While it may seem counterintuitive to prioritize long-term gains over short-term rewards, it's often the sustainable innovations that truly disrupt markets and create lasting value.

A real innovation is based on the belief in a longterm success. Why is this important for a company? Because it creates longterm value and thus secures the existence of the business in future. But it is not only important for the innovating company, but also for consumers, as they can see their needs being better fulfilled than before. Or even being fulfilled for the first time...then you have gamechanger in your hand. And last, but not least...when looking at our ecological challenges we definitely need more sustainable product innovations for a better future.

Quando falamos de inovação em produtos precisamos praticar o Pensamento Exponencial diariamente. Essa mudança fará com que suas ações e criações estejam alinhadas com as necessidades de curto, médio e longo prazo do mercado em que atua.

The greatest challenge in long-term innovation is sustaining momentum. Success hinges on setting clear milestones and actionable mitigation plan. An advisory board should regularly review these milestones to identify any misalignment with the company’s OKRs and strategic direction. The board is responsible for validating gaps and endorsing any necessary adjustments.

É preciso ter compromisso com o futuro e bastante persistência para garantir as necessidades de quem "aposta" nas visões a longo prazo. Claro que utilizando de bastante pesquisa e estratégia para não dar nenhum passo no escuro, sempre é preciso saber o que está fazendo.

Sustainability in innovation should be built into the company standards and best practices, and should be embedded into the way of working vs being a specific dedicated project or range. The innovation team needs to be constantly balancing the pipeline to ensure you have short, mid and long term projects running at the same time constantly evaluating commercial readiness in case something needs to be pulled forward earlier. At some point quick wins will be necessary, but shouldn’t come at the sacrifice of sustainability, but rather you need to weigh what level of commercial innovation can be achieved on a fast timeline while creating newness and value for the end consumer and brand.

Balancing quick wins with sustainable innovation is crucial for startups. Allocating resources effectively—80% to immediate gains and 20% to long-term innovation—can drive short-term success and build a solid foundation. Over time, shift the focus gradually to prioritize sustainable innovation. This approach helps avoid the trap of quick wins overshadowing long-term growth, ensuring your startup remains resilient and forward-thinking.

Celebre sempre! Cada esforço deve ser reconhecido, independente da grandeza do resultado obtido. Inovações incrementais podem gerar a inovação disruptiva. Cada etapa deve ser celebrada

Puede implicar modelos de negocio basados en compartir, acceso frente a propiedad y prácticas sostenibles, como servicios de transporte compartido o suscripciones a energías renovables. Para navegar entre ganancias rápidas e innovación sostenible, considera la colaboración con diversas partes interesadas, como empresas, gobiernos, ONG e instituciones de investigación, para impulsar soluciones sostenibles a mayor escala

The focus should be on strategic direction and short listing programs that fall in these 2 buckets. Once there is clarity on which one falls in which bucket. The utilization of resources becomes easy. Quick wins emphasize your continuity while innovation emphasizes your longevity. Both are important and thus a Balance has to be there in strategy.

The answer is simple. If you are forced to choose it's not true innovation. The true measure of innovation is its ability to achieve both immediate impact and lasting relevance. A product that can’t deliver quick wins and sustain long-term success isn’t truly innovative. Innovation isn’t about choosing one over the other; it’s about creating something that inherently does both. If your innovation doesn't naturally generate both immediate buzz and enduring value, it’s time to rethink your approach. Strive for solutions that excite today and endure tomorrow—because that’s what real innovation looks like.

Developing a decision framework to balance quick wins and sustainable innovation is akin to navigating a complex ecosystem. It's not just about selecting between short-term gains and long-term growth; it's about orchestrating a harmonious interplay between the two. By incorporating metrics that measure both immediate impact and strategic alignment, organizations can create a dynamic approach to innovation. Such a framework should also account for risk tolerance, resource allocation, and the potential for innovation to disrupt existing business models. Ultimately, the goal is to cultivate a culture that values experimentation and learning, allowing for rapid adaptation to changing market conditions while maintaining a clear vision.

As tomadas de decisões devem se basear em uma série de fatores. Aqueles que os fazem, devem entender bastante dos riscos e benefícios para a organização, considerar os fatores, necessidades, pensar principalmente em todos os stakeholders.

Cannot say enough about creating and sustaining a deep rooted culture of innovation and creativity. Moving forward this would be our foundation from education to business.

Fortaleça com seu time a visão de que toda situação é uma oportunidade de aprendizado e que valorize a experimentação em um ambiente onde a inovação é constante e enraizada em todos os níveis da organização. Dessa forma, a empresa se mantém ágil, dinâmica e preparada para os desafios futuros.

You need to plant seeds for the future while tending to the flowers that are already blooming. By creating a space where experimentation is encouraged, failures are seen as stepping stones, and collaboration is the norm, you're providing fertile ground for innovation to flourish. It's essential to recognize that not every idea will bear fruit, but by continuously nurturing the ecosystem, you increase the likelihood of groundbreaking discoveries. Remember, the ultimate goal is to create a self-sustaining cycle of innovation, where quick wins fuel future endeavors, and long-term vision guides the path forward.

A good innovation culture in a company for me can be described by the following attributes: openness in communication, strong collaboration beyond one's own department, sharing information/opinions/experiences etc, allowing experimenting, allowing mistakes to happen, supporting an end-to-end responsibility, giving priority to competence before hierarchy and especially giving trust and freedom of mind and time to the people. If the above is not given, I am convinced that innovation won't strive. Because innovation cannot be commanded.

A inovação deve ser incentivada e a comunicação deve ser aberta para todos os lados de uma organização, pelo menos assim o penso. Uma boa ideia pode vir de qualquer lugar e isso tem que ficar claro para todos da organização, as portas devem ficar abertas.

To truly optimize your organization's potential, view quick wins and sustainable innovation as complementary, not competing forces. Think of them as two sides of the same coin: one provides immediate value and momentum, while the other builds a solid foundation for future growth. By strategically allocating resources, fostering a culture of experimentation, and maintaining a long-term perspective, you can create a virtuous cycle where short-term successes fuel long-term ambitions. Remember, the most successful organizations are those that master the art of balancing these two critical elements, ensuring their continued relevance and prosperity in an ever-changing marketplace.

Navigating the trade-offs between quick wins and sustainable innovation requires a balanced approach. Focus on achieving short-term successes that build momentum and demonstrate value, while ensuring these efforts contribute to long-term strategic objectives. Allocate resources to innovation projects that may take longer to realize but are critical for future growth. Encourage a culture of continuous improvement where quick wins are stepping stones towards broader, sustainable innovation. This way, immediate results are achieved without sacrificing the long-term vision.

O planejamento estratégico é o passo inicial para a elaboração de planos futuras numa organização. Criar um ambiente onde cultua-se valores e opoiem ideias inovadoras, faz com que todos se motive a buscar o crescimento da empresa, visando o sucesso imediato e sustentável. Construindo uma base sólida, para o sucesso futuras da mesma.