Like swinging for the grand slam in baseball or betting on the trifecta in horse racing, going for broke with innovation is glamorous. Breakthrough innovations, whether the next blockbuster product or a next-generation business model, create a buzz in the boardroom while lesser forms of innovation go unnoticed. Yet a body of evidence in recent years makes a strong case that breakthrough innovation should be the growth strategy of last resort.
A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2004 issue of Harvard Business Review.
