Why Innovation Fails: Hard-won Lessons for Business

Originally published in 2003 in The Business Economist, volume 34, issue 3. The original publication day is unrecorded.

Carl Franklin, Spiro Press, 2003, xv + 240 pages, £16.99.

From The Business Economist, volume 34, issue 3 (2003).

This is not an academic book. The author was a newspaper journalist covering business and technology for more than a decade and, according to the dust jacket, is now an investment analyst. It is fun to read, if somewhat glib. It includes some wonderful examples of bad ideas, such as the male contraceptive plug (p 123). Although I live and work nearby, I also learned that Clerkenwell was the dotcom hotspot of London. It is more about economies of innovation, focusing on the psychology of buying and how real people use things too. It is primarily addressed to small investors and potential innovators in large and small companies. There is something of a story line implicit throughout the book, but it reads more like a collection of sound bites. Why do innovations fail? The author discusses a number of reasons, including:

People do not think it is better, so why bother with it? The metric system is in this category. First suggested in 1585 it is very gradually gaining ground.

Journalists exaggerate the benefits of new things. They go over the top and should not be believed.

Consumers do not appreciate really new things. They cannot be bothered to learn how to use them, follow the directions properly, buy other things they need to make the new thing work, etc.

Innovators do not have enough market research. Here, the author is suggesting behavioural and operational market research, rather than asking people about things with which they have no experience. For example, what are those middle-class financial analysts putting in cigarette paper?

Innovators want to automate your home. Your pets will probably foil them.

Innovation in the office fails to take account of network systems. What you learn at the water cooler might be really useful.

After 206 pages largely on why innovation fails, there is a chapter on why innovation succeeds. Franklin cites research that shows how successful new products had one or two of the following:

Moderately new to the market

Based on tried and tested technology

Saved money, met user needs and supported existing behaviours.

The final chapter is largely a defence of being negative about innovation, or at any rate, an argument for critical thinking about it.

Linda Hesselman University College London

Archived source: 2004-02-23 website capture.