{"id":36186,"date":"2021-05-25T16:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=36186"},"modified":"2021-06-05T12:06:25","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T16:06:25","slug":"myths-of-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/myths-of-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Top 3 Myths of Innovation\u2014Debunked"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are the most common myths of innovation? How does buying into these myths hamper business innovation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because it’s so difficult to structure and do on-demand, innovation comes with its fair share of myths. Businesses must break free of these misconceptions if they aspire to revolutionize their respective markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are three top myths about innovation, according to organizational psychologist Adam Grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Innovation: Myths and Misconceptions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Innovation has never been as pressing as it is today\u2014modern markets are saturated and competition is fierce. But as the need for innovation increases, so do the myths and misconceptions about it. Below are three top myths of innovation, debunked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 1: Procrastination Is Bad<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first myth of innovation is that procrastination is a bad thing. The consensus around productivity states that procrastinating is a disease that should be stamped out, that we should always plan our work on timelines and get a head start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But procrastination is useful to avoid too early of a commitment to an idea<\/strong>. If you lodge a problem in the back of your mind and give it time to marinate, you attack it from a variety of angles. You consider it in relaxed states, free from time pressure, which allows divergent thinking<\/a> (hence the pattern of coming up with best ideas in the shower or on the toilet). You make incremental progress<\/a> by testing and refining different possibilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By procrastinating, you also allow for greater input from your colleagues. If you decide early and set a strict timeline, there\u2019s little strategic flexibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, as you near the deadline, you assemble the breadth of options you\u2019ve considered, and then you can then focus down on the best one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Importantly, for procrastination to have these creative benefits, you need to be intrinsically motivated to solve the problem. Procrastinating when you hate the problem and feel little urge to solve it likely doesn\u2019t end up with better ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Myth 2: The First-Mover Advantage<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

An entrepreneurial myth<\/a> is that the first mover will seize the spoils. Businesses that move first should seize brand recognition, gain size quickly, and ward off new entrants. The myth is also confounded by its truth in select industries, like patent filing priority and academic publications, both requiring novelty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The data suggest otherwise – \u201cpioneer\u201d companies failed at a rate of 47%, compared to \u201csettler\u201d companies at 8%<\/strong>. Furthermore, pioneers captured just 10% of the market share, compared to 28% for settlers. (Shortform note: To be specific, from the original paper<\/a>, failure means the end of sales for a product. It wasn\u2019t clear if the market share was only for surviving pioneers, or also included failed pioneers (thus counting as 0% share).)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Settler companies benefit from the path that pioneers pave, by:<\/p>\n\n\n\n