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So .. what is a killer innovation?

In this blog (and on the podcast), I frequently toss around the term “killer innovation”. Is this different from a normal innovation? Yes. The definition of innovation is: Innovation is the multi-stage process whereby organizations transform ideas into improved products, services, or processes, in o

Phil McKinney
Phil McKinney
— 2 min read
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In this blog (and on the podcast), I frequently toss around the term “killer innovation”. Is this different from a normal innovation? Yes.

The definition of innovation is:

Innovation is the multi-stage process whereby organizations transform ideas into improved products, services, or processes, in order to advance, compete and differentiate themselves successfully in their marketplace.

Innovation by itself is not enough. Everyone is focused on creating innovations. To win, you need to create killer innovations, which I define as:

A killer innovation is a significant and highly profitable departure from current offerings or practices that would be difficult to duplicate.

Significant: Must be easily recognized as a unique idea/approach that is not just an extension of what already exists today. This is a lot harder than it looks. Face it. Any innovation is built on the ideas and innovations that came before them. Rarely is there something that is new. The key is not to settle for a “me too” idea.

Highly Profitable: There are many ideas, but few that can create entirely new industries/markets with a profit stream that creates growth, jobs economies, and wealth. They take an industry-leading disruptive role in the innovation economy. Most times, you won't know if the idea will turn into a killer innovation until after it's in the market. Take Google. I don't believe the team truly thought it would grow into its business.

Difficult to Duplicate: To create a competitive advantage, the innovation must be unique, either with intellectual property, unique design features, or leveraging the unique capabilities of the organization, such that others cannot duplicate. If your idea can be easily duplicated, then any advantage you create will be quickly lost. One approach to this is the speed of innovation. If you create the strength to out-pace your competition, the barrier to competing is quite high.

A killer innovation is a significant and highly profitable innovation that would be difficult to duplicate.
  • Google – changed the business model of advertising
  • Amazon – disrupted the economics of selling books
  • Intel – wins by its relentless pace of innovations (tick-tock)
  • Netflix – changed the way the world watches video content
  • W. L. Gore – Created the high-performance clothing category

What other examples would you give for killer innovations?

BlogHow Todifferentiationdifficult to duplicatehighly profitablekiller innovationsignificant improvement
Phil McKinney

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Phil McKinney is an innovator, podcaster, author, and speaker. He is the retired CTO of HP. Phil's book, Beyond The Obvious, shares his expertise and lessons learned on innovation and creativity.

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