Case Story
Creating the Foundation
for Radical Innovation
at Sport Co.
Client Mandate
Create clarity around existing innovation projects and drive business-model-disrupting innovation going forward.
Our Starting Point
- Internal belief that company-changing innovation is important
- CEO lacked confidence that current activities and investments went beyond product improvements and line expansions
Our Success
- 2x investment in radical innovation
- 3 new business models piloted or launched
- On-going C-suite engagement
Our Starting Point
Sport Co has a long history of success in the sporting goods market, but the competitive landscape was changing. Internally, there was widespread acknowledgement that Sport Co needed to radically innovate to stay on top of its game, and it had made some investments to pursue digital innovations. As the CEO memorably commented, he felt like he was sitting at the poker table placing bets, but that all the lights were off in the room, so he had no idea what he was betting on.
Fortunately, Sport Co has a resident badass. For years she was dedicated to creating Sport Co’s successful sustainability group which had completely transformed the company’s approach to design, supply chain, and manufacturing, incorporating sustainability practices every step of the way. But, she was ready for a new challenge. She assembled a small team of trusted change-agents, and they immersed themselves in cutting-edge innovation theory and frameworks. They quickly realized that they needed experts to help them put the frameworks into action in a way that reflected the distinct culture of Sport Co.
Our Journey
In response to the CEO’s concerns about the current innovation work, we compiled and presented Sport Co’s first-ever corporate-wide innovation portfolio. We busted silos to bring a half dozen innovation teams together to share their portfolios, allowing us to identify duplication and overlap in their projects and categorize the types of innovation they were working on. We compiled all of this work and were able to show the CEO that he was betting on a coherent portfolio that was heavy on innovation in core businesses but light on the game-changing radical innovations that Sport Co needed.
At the same time, we created an Accelerator dedicated to creating and supporting “moonshots” that could disrupt the industry and the company, facilitating communication and knowledge sharing across existing innovation teams, and continuing to track the company’s innovation investments to ensure they align with Sport Co’s long-term strategy and investment priorities.
Our Progress
5 years later, Sport Co’s accelerator is running strong:
- 3 new business models are in pilot or launched
- Investment in radical innovation has more than doubled
- C-suite is actively involved in reviewing the portfolio of projects and investments
Client Mandate
Create clarity around existing innovation projects and drive business-model-disrupting innovation going forward.
Our Starting Point
- Internal belief that company-changing innovation is important
- CEO lacked confidence that existing innovation activities and investments went beyond product improvements and line expansions
Our Success
- 2x investment in radical innovation
- 3 new business models in pilot or launched
- On-boing C-suite engagement
Our Starting Point
Sport Co has a long history of success in the sporting goods market, but the competitive landscape was changing. Internally, there was widespread acknowledgement that Sport Co needed to radically innovate to stay on top of its game, and it had made some investments to pursue digital innovations. As the CEO memorably commented, he felt like he was sitting at the poker table placing bets, but that all the lights were off in the room, so he had no idea what he was betting on.
Fortunately, Sport Co has a resident badass. For years she was dedicated to creating Sport Co’s successful sustainability group which had completely transformed the company’s approach to design, supply chain, and manufacturing, incorporating sustainability practices every step of the way. But, she was ready for a new challenge. She assembled a small team of trusted change-agents, and they immersed themselves in cutting-edge innovation theory and frameworks. They quickly realized that they needed experts to help them put the frameworks into action in a way that reflected the distinct culture of Sport Co.
Our Journey
In response to the CEO’s concerns about the current innovation work, we compiled and presented Sport Co’s first-ever corporate-wide innovation portfolio. We busted silos to bring a half dozen innovation teams together to share their portfolios, allowing us to identify duplication and overlap in their projects and categorize the types of innovation they were working on. We compiled all of this work and were able to show the CEO that he was betting on a coherent portfolio that was heavy on innovation in core businesses but light on the game-changing radical innovations that Sport Co needed.
At the same time, we created an Accelerator dedicated to creating and supporting “moonshots” that could disrupt the industry and the company, facilitating communication and knowledge sharing across existing innovation teams, and continuing to track the company’s innovation investments to ensure they align with Sport Co’s long-term strategy and investment priorities.
Our Progress
5 years later, Sport Co’s accelerator is running strong:
- 3 new business models are in pilot or launched
- Investment in radical innovation has more than doubled
- C-suite is actively involved in reviewing the portfolio of projects and investments