The Importance of Opportunity Recognition Within Innovation

Knowledge Sharing author David Silva posits that funding innovation without the ability to commercialize ideas that stem from innovation results in wasted time, effort, and capital. Many great ideas never make it to market because companies do not hire their workforce to innovate; they hire their workforce to execute operations. In this Knowledge Sharing article, David presents a well thought-out case that innovation enables companies to introduce new or vastly improved products at a faster pace to quickly capture market share. His article focuses on exploring the most abstract component of the innovation/commercialization process: Opportunity Recognition.

What makes Opportunity Recognition so abstract? Although it relies upon the organization for support, true “enlightenment” happens in the mind of the individual acting on behalf of the organization. It requires certain skills and aptitudes that only individuals can possess. Together, the collective skill set represents an organizational knowledge which is the foundational preparation required for Opportunity Recognition. Nurturing and attaining these soft skills allows for Opportunity Recognition, but for many companies, these skills do not represent hard assets worthy of investment. David’s article explains why these skills are important, and why the failure to invest in individuals able to recognize opportunity often translates into incremental and unimpressive products.

The article concludes with a recommendation of an enhanced Commercialization Model which greatly expands the Opportunity Recognition component, adds foundational dependencies, emphasizes the limits imposed by organizations, and inserts additional linkages to existing components fed by the new Opportunity Recognition enhancements. It aims to help companies of all industries strengthen their innovation focus in order to become more profitable and achieve competitive advantage.

Read the full article.