Everyone recognizes the transformative impact of great innovators like Steve Jobs, the former Apple CEO who drove the development of game-changing products like the iPhone and the iPod. These products are clear examples of macro innovation: groundbreaking inventions that created entirely new product categories, fueled extraordinary business growth and changed the way we live. Many of today’s most successful companies were originally founded on such macro innovation. But sustaining business success over time generally also requires another kind of innovation, often known as micro innovation: smaller, incremental improvements that enable the company to stay abreast of technology trends and respond to customer needs.
To flourish over the long term, therefore, companies need a balance of both macro- and micro- innovation, which means they need to create a work environment in which both types of innovation can occur. However, most companies fail to achieve that balance: they limit their potential by focusing on either micro innovation or macro innovation, but not both.