Innovation Archetypes

Recently there has been interest in innovation archetypes. The construct is closely related to the sociological method of ideal types, which are pure examples of a social phenomenon. For example, if you consider Kaizen, or Continuous Improvement, it is possible to ask the question: what would be the characteristics a perfect example of Kaizen being implemented? The answer to the question provides a working definition of an archetype.

Some researchers have claimed that there are industry-specific innovation archetypes. Our research finds that there are cases where this assertion has validity; for example, all pharmaceutical companies share a similar innovation architecture. However, we have found from our own action research assignments that can be very different modalities of innovation in the same industry. For example, in retailing one company may innovate by co-developing new products with suppliers whereas another may innovate by positioning itself effectively in social media.

We have found that there are robust ideal-types of specific innovation modalities (for example, effective skunkworks have similar characteristics whether they be advanced engineering companies, hedge funds or software development research groups).

The construct of archetypes has practical value. We can compare existing practice in an organisation with a comprehensive definition of an ideal type to see where there are differences or gaps. This results in a focused agenda for organisation development.