PSA follows Steve Blank and the Lean Start Up model for moving amazing new technology into the 21st Century. Here is an article digging into what it takes to move forward or not.
Fast Time in Three Horizon High
When first articulated by Baghai, Coley, and White in 2000, in The Alchemy of Growth, the Three Horizons model was a breakthrough. Over the years, HBR articles have referenced the Three Horizons as a foundation of innovation strategy.
The Three Horizons allowed senior management to visualize what an ambidextrous organization would look like — the idea that companies and government agencies need to execute existing business models while simultaneously creating new capabilities — and helped to prioritize innovation products and programs.
However, in the 21st century the Three Horizons model has a fatal flaw that risks making companies lag behind competitors — or even putting them out of business.
The Three Horizons provided an incredibly useful taxonomy. The model described innovation occurring on three time horizons:
Horizon 1 ideas provide continuous innovation to a company’s existing business model and core capabilities in the short-term.
Horizon 2 ideas extend a company’s existing business model and core capabilities to new customers, markets, or targets.
Horizon 3 is the creation of new capabilities and new business to take advantage of or respond to disruptive opportunities or to counter disruption.
While traditional analysis suggests that Horizon 3 disruptive innovations take years to develop, in today’s world this is no longer the case. The three horizons are no longer bounded by time. Today, disruptive Horizon 3 ideas can be delivered as fast as ideas for Horizon 1 in the existing product line.