Summary book – the invincible company
DIGITAL STRATEGY &
INNOVATION
THE INVINCIBLE COMPANY
CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Tool The portfolio map
Explore portfolio
Exploit portfolio
Explore & exploit
Chapter 2: Manage Strategic guidance
Explore portfolio management
Exploit portfolio management
Chapter 3: Invent pattern library Frontstage disruption
Backstage disruption
Profit formula disruption
Assessment questions for leaders
Chapter 4: improve pattern library Value proposition shifts
Frontstage driven shifts
Backstage driven shifts
Profit formula driven shifts
Chapter 5: culture The culture map
Designing on exploration culture
Innovation culture readiness assessment
INTRODUCTION
The invincible company = an organization that constantly reinvents itself before it becomes obsolete. The
invincible company explores the future, while excelling at exploiting the present. It cultivates an innovation and
execution culture that lives in harmony under the same roof. It competes on superior business models and
transcends traditional industry boundaries.
How to become an invincible company?
Constantly reinvent yourself
Compete on superior business models
Transcend industry boundaries
And create more value for society, for the team, for customers, and for owners
,Summary book – the invincible company
CHAPTER 1: TOOL
Business model portfolio = the collection of existing business models a company exploits and the new business
models it explores in order to avoid disruption and ensure longevity.
CHASING INVINCIBILITY
No company is invincible. Those that come closest are the ones that constantly reinvent themselves in the face of
disruption. These companies manage a portfolio of existing business models that they exploit and continuously
improve. Simultaneously, they manage a portfolio of new business models that they explore to systematically
produce new growth engines.
THE EXPLORE / EXPLOIT CONTINUUM
Invincible companies do not prioritize exploitation over exploration. They are world class at simultaneously
managing the entire continuum from exploring new businesses to exploiting existing ones. They keep a culture of
“day one”, maintaining a start-up spirit, while managing thousands or even hundred of thousands of people and
multibillion-dollar businesses. Increasingly, this ability to manage exploration and exploitation is not just limited to
large established companies. It is also a matter of survival for SMEs and start-ups with the shortening lifespan of
business models across industries.
Explore Exploit
Search and breakthrough Focus Efficiency and growth
High Uncertainty Low
Venture-capital style Financial philosophy Safe haven with steady returns and
Risk-taking, expected few outsized dividends
winners
Iterative experimentation, Culture & processes Linear execution, embracing
embracing speed, failure, learning, planning, predictability, and
and rapid adaptation minimal failure
Explores who excel in uncertainty, People& skills Managers who are strong at
are strong a pattern recognition, organizing and planning and can
and can navigate between big design efficient processes to deliver
picture and details on time and budget.
The portf olio map
= a strategic management tool to simultaneously visualize, analyze, and manage the business models you are
improving and growing and the future business models you are searching for and testing.
Explore portfolio your portfolio of innovation projects, new business models, new value propositions,
and new products and services, all mapped out in terms of Expected Return and Innovation Risk.
,Summary book – the invincible company
Exploit your portfolio of existing businesses, value propositions, products, and services, all mapped out
in terms of Return and Death & Disruption risk.
Portf olio management
= Designing and maintaining a strong business model portfolio requires 3 main activities: visualize, analyze,
manage
Visualize the starting point for any good discussion, meeting or workshop about your business model
portfolio is a shared language to visualize it. You need a shared understanding of which business models
you have and which ones you are exploring.
Analyze a shared understanding of your business model portfolio allows you to identify if you are at
risk of disruption and if you are doing enough against it. This includes analyzing which of your business
models are most at risk, and which ones you are exploring to ensure your future growth.
Manage good portfolio management management includes taking action to design and maintain a
balanced portfolio that protects you from disruption. This includes continuously growing and improving
existing business models by shifting outdated ones to new business models and protecting those that are
established. It also includes exploring completely new business models of which many will fail, but some
will produce outsized returns and ensure your future.
Explore: search Exploit: grow
The explore portfolio is all about the search for new The exploit portfolio is all about keeping your existing
ideas, value propositions, and business models to business models on a growth trajectory. This includes
ensure the future of your company. Search involves scaling emerging business models, renovating
maximizing expected returns and minimizing declining ones, and protecting successful ones. You
innovation risk. You improve the expected return by ensure growth by improving returns and minimizing
working on your business model design. You decrease disruption risk. This is best achieved by shifting all of
the risk of working on an idea that might fail by testing your business models from outdated ones to stronger
and adapting it. ones.
Explore
5 INNOVATION JOURNEY MYTHS
The journey of exploring new business ideas is not a linear one and differs radically from managing an existing
business. We outline 5 myths regarding the innovation and entrepreneurship journey that may prevent you from
turning an idea into a real business.
Myth Reality
Myth 1: the most important part of the innovation The innovation and entrepreneurship journey is about
and entrepreneurship journey is to find and execute turning ideas into value propositions that customers
the perfect idea care about and business models that can scale.
Myth 2: the evidence will show you a clear path Innovation and entrepreneurship is about making
forward when you systematically test ideas. The informed decisions based on incomplete and
solution will magically emerge if you just test and potentially contradictory evidence. And sometimes
adapt your idea often enough. killing an idea is the healthy thing to do.
Myth 3: a small number of big bets will lead to a large Exploration requires making a large number of small
, Summary book – the invincible company
return. bets that you gradually reduce over time, based on
evidence
Myth 4: the skills required to explore a new business Exploration and exploitation are 2 radically different
and to manage an existing one are pretty similar. professions that require a different skill set and
Business is business different experience.
Myth 5: innovation teams are renegades or pirates Innovators need to be seen as partners who are
that are out to disrupt the old business. They need to essential for the future of the company. Otherwise,
operate in stealth mode to survive inside a company. any meaningful innovation is unlikely to emerge on a
large scale.
EXPECTED RETURN AND INNOVATION RISK
Expected return = the financial potential (or impact) of a business idea if it is successful. You can pick how
you define expected return according to your preferences. This may be profitability, revenue potential,
growth potential, margins, or any other financial metric that allows you to evaluate the financial potential
of an idea. Alternatively, you may focus on the social or environmental return, rather than the financial
return.
Innovation risk = there are 4 types of innovation risks that might kill a business idea: desirability risk,
viability risk, feasibility risk, and adaptability risk.
Desirability risk (customers aren’t interested)
Viability risk (we can’t earn enough money)
Feasibility risk (we can’t build and deliver)
Adaptability risk (external factors are unfavourable)
SEARCH & PIVOT
The journey in the explore portfolio is one of search and pivot until you have enough evidence that a new business
idea will work. The search for ideas, value propositions, and business models that will work consists of 2 main
activities that continuously nourish each other:
Business design: design is the activity of turning vague ideas, market insights, and evidence from testing
into concrete value propositions and solid business models. Good design involves the use of strong
business model patterns to maximize returns and compete beyond product, price, and technology.
Test: testing is the activity of reducing the risk of pursuing ideas that look good in theory, but won’t work
in reality. You test ideas by defining critical hypotheses, conducting rapid experiments, and learning from
the evidence. The evidence may support or refute the value propositions and business models you are
exploring.
Search Discovery: customer understanding, context, and willingness to pay
trajectory Validation: proven interest and indications of profitability
Acceleration: proven model at limited scale
Pivot Reality check: failure of initial trajectory
trajectory Change of direction: testing a new direction