The Circle of Innovation

Abstract

Traditional models of innovation are predominantly linear, featuring only very limited feedback loops. This paper builds on a high-level cycle of feedback between technical innovation and social change. In this grand cycle, technological innovation brings about new products but also new ways of using products and services. These in turn change our organizations and social interactions. The new structures generate new unfilled needs, spurring still more technological innovation. The Circle of Innovation is a simple idea. Yet its implications for companies and for researchers have remained unexplored. This paper discusses the Circle of Innovation’s implications. We find the Circle of Innovation (i) implies a new way to classify innovations; (ii) should change how firms assess innovations; (iii) gives a new view of target marketing; and (iv) has implications for sustainable product planning. We conclude in a more conjectural vein that the Circle of Innovation provides a frame for other nonlinear innovation models.

Keywords

• innovation
• social change
• product line planning
• new product development
• technology assessment