From changemaker to gamechanger: 10 tips for achieving breakthrough innovation

We live in exciting times of disruptive change, with innovations that are a mix of digital and physical, global and local. Leading innovators don’t just make things possible but profitable - and change the game in an exponential manner for organisations and entire industries.

“Gamechangers are disruptive and innovative, startups and corporate, in every sector and region, reshaping our world,” begins bestselling author Peter Fisk in his new book, Gamechangers: Are you ready to change the world? He heads the company GeniusWorks, and his earlier books include Creative Genius, Customer Genius and People, Planet, Profit.

The 306-page book is colourfully designed and has a useful online companion with business tools and case study videos. The 100 profiled creative firms and startups cover not just the usual suspects like Google, Amazon and Apple but a range of companies from across Asia, Africa and Europe such as RedBus, Alibaba, Air Asia, Rakuten, Zidisha and Juan Valdez Coffee.

Gamechangers think bigger, smarter and faster than other innovators. They harness key trends such as changing demographics, distributed supply chains, digital markets and global warming. They think different and play to win but also have incredible fun along the journey. (See also my reviews of the related books Ten Types of Innovation, Peers Inc, Cross-Industry Innovation,  Scaling Up, and Frugal Innovation.)

Gamechangers are of three types: market makers (creating new domains), business innovators (creative business models), and brand builders (high emotional resonance). They fuse different ideas, amplify their brand message, mobilise communities, enable customers to achieve more, and transform the world into a better place. In Table 1, I have summarised ten ways in which gamechangers operate.

Table 1: The Gamechanger Canvas

Gamechangers innovate across the length and breadth of the business model: manufacture (direct, licensed), channels (niche, auction, franchise), crowd (funding, buying), payment (subscription, freemium, micro), exchange (marketplace, bitcoin) and asset (ads, customer data). They collaborate with customers and stakeholders right from conceptualisation and design to development and funding.

Gamechangers move right across the value spectrum: commodity product, branded product, personal service, branded experience and unique customer experience. They have a growth mindset, and are always willing to learn, un-learn and re-learn – in that sense, they are more like speedboats than supertankers.

Based on these characteristics of gamechangers, Fisk draws on a wealth of research to profile innovators in ten categories: retail, banking, health, gadgets, media, fashion, travel, food, technology and manufacturing. Each of these sections alone would make for an entire book in its own right, but I have summarised some of them in Table 2.

Table 2: The Gamechangers

Many of these profiled gamechangers tap the latest SMAC trends (social, mobile, analytics, cloud), create scaleable designs, address social responsibility, and build deep long-term relationships with their customers. Future technologies to watch include GRIN (genetic, robotic, intelligent and nano).

To achieve these effects and impacts, Fisk offers tools for four domains of change: why (purpose, benefit), who (customer), what (product or experience), and how (business model or service style). For example, the Insights Canvas maps out industry patterns, market parallels, customer needs and future enablers. The Brand Canvas covers brand vision, purpose, attributes, icons, words and differentiating factors.

“Gamechangers are bold and brave, with the ambition and audacity to believe that they can make a fundamental difference,” says Fisk. “Be creative, curious and connected,” he advises aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs.

“Everything you need is already inside you. Get started,” Fisk concludes.