A meta-approach to game-changing combinatorial innovation: Bazaar Alchemy.
- A meta-approach to game-changing combinatorial innovation: Bazaar Alchemy.
- Most approaches to innovation focus on innovating on one differentiating component.
- Bazaar Alchemy focuses instead on the innovation coming from the combination of components.
- First, you go to the bazaar to find pre-existing components you can take for granted.
- Like any good flea market there's a bunch of unique, time-worn, and offbeat curios, but also some real gems.
- These components should be anything that already exists.
- Existing usage patterns in your current apps.
- Technology demos or prototypes.
- Existence proofs in other products.
- Cultural abilities your team has.
- Then, you look for interesting combinations of those components that lead to something self-evidently more than the sum of its parts.
- The new combination is a kind of alchemy.
- You've put all of your innovation budget into interesting combinations, not into the components.