You're fixated on short-term profits. How can you grasp the importance of long-term innovation?
Focusing solely on short-term profits can be tempting, but neglecting long-term innovation can stifle your product's growth and market relevance. Here's how to strike a balance:
How do you balance short-term gains with long-term innovation? Share your thoughts.
You're fixated on short-term profits. How can you grasp the importance of long-term innovation?
Focusing solely on short-term profits can be tempting, but neglecting long-term innovation can stifle your product's growth and market relevance. Here's how to strike a balance:
How do you balance short-term gains with long-term innovation? Share your thoughts.
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Focusing only on short-term profits limits a product’s true potential. It’s like setting up a food stall at a carnival, banking on immediate gains while missing out on sustained growth. Investors, too, look for longevity and adaptability, as they value products that evolve with the market. To truly innovate, relevance is key—building a product that meets today’s needs and can thrive as those needs change. Once brainstorming is complete, stay open to pivoting. Innovation isn’t just about profits; it’s about creating lasting value that appeals to both customers and investors.
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1. Short-term profits are great, but they fade quickly. Long-term innovation keeps a product relevant for years. 2. Customers want products that improve over time. Without innovation, they may switch to better options. 3. Competitors innovate to stay ahead. If Ram doesn’t focus on the future, his product may fall behind. 4. Innovation can open up new revenue streams, making the product more profitable long-term. 5. A strong brand is built by consistently adding value. Innovation helps earn customer loyalty and trust. 6. Investors prefer businesses with future growth potential, not just short-term gains.
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Getting out of that fixation will be tough. Agree with the comments that for creative innovative minds it does not resonate or that you will under invest if only do short term. My thoughts are: 1. Set the dream high: as clear aspirational objective that looks long term for the company. 2. Short term pays bills but you should invest in long term to assure relevance in the market. 3. Acknowledge that you need support from outside. You do not know everything outside your bubble so get humble, get smart and raise your eyes to possibilities that will bring rewards. Short term is preparing the land for a more valuable crop (long term) that you can harvest tomorrow.
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Start by deciding what type of innovation you're talking about, (1) incremental improvement of brands and products, which is within the scope and skills of the organization (2) Game changing innovation which focuses on improving the product, service or delivery, this will normally be based around improved or changed business model (not the product or service), (3) Radical change which addresses needs differently - this is normally driven where two or three trends come together to create a totally new space. As this will implicitly be mainly outside the scope of the organizations current skill sets this needs to be done in partnership, or outside the organization. (ie an oil service company transitioning to environmental services)
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Get out of that FIXATION. It’s a stupid question which nowhere resonates with any creative understanding. LinkedIn must change its allogarithm to gain wisdom.
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Start by not getting an MBA. That kinda degree will ruin you. Second, focus on your customer and what they need. Really talk to your users. Build what they need. There is no third.
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The way I've found a balance is to identify the "things that need to be true for us to win" in line with our longer term strategy. By being clear on those, you can look at how to solve the short term problems with those influences or constraints. This delivers what you need today, while still building a solution that is compounding your core value over time. In the Lego book (Brick by Brick) this is referred to as "innovating inside the box". Often providing constraints delivers more creative (and still compounding) solutions.
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Balancing long-term innovation with short-term profits requires a mindset shift. The key is to view short-term profits as a tool, not a goal. They fund the innovation pipeline, but they shouldn’t dominate decision-making. To grasp the importance of long-term growth, focus on building a product roadmap that delivers future value, even if it means sacrificing immediate returns. By making calculated investments in innovation now, we can set the stage for greater, sustainable profits down the road, ensuring market relevance and competitive edge.
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In my experience what can start changing the company’s mind is to start and watch what competitors are doing and “sense” where the industry the company is in is heading to. Lifespan of companies has dramatically reduced in the past 10/20 years…not developing a long term perspective can become an unsustainable threat…
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Aligning goals to both the short-term and long-term perspectives helps organizations avoid the trap of focusing solely on immediate financial gains, which can sometimes lead to missed opportunities for strategic innovation.
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