The importance of scale with innovation

There is a common perception in business that innovation belongs to startups and disruption comes from the edges. This may be true, but it overlooks an equally important reality: For an innovation to have impact, it must scale. Travel is a good example. A successful trip depends on a complex network of accommodations, airlines, payments systems, local business connections, and technology platforms. Many times they operate across borders with different regulatory requirements and practices. Simplifying that experience requires orchestrating a global network of partners, systems, and data. Innovation creates new possibilities. Scale turns those possibilities into reliable, global experiences that people trust. THE INNOVATION PARADOX Yet scale also creates a paradox. As organizations grow, they gain the resources, talent, and reach to solve increasingly complex challenges. However, this growth can also make innovation harder. Decision-making can shift from pursuing opportunity to protecting existing success. The challenge for large organizations is to preserve the qualities that made them successful in the first place: curiosity, speed, and a willingness to challenge assumptions. Tha…