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How does innovation actually happen? Is it something that emerges from locking a few talented people in a room for a couple of days, running an “innovation workshop,” and emerging with the perfect product — something we just know the customer wants?
Unlikely.
How can we be sure that the idea we’ve come up with is valuable to others? Are people even willing to use it — let alone pay for it?
When building something new and disruptive, it’s tempting to aim high and tackle multiple big challenges at once. But overly ambitious projects often fail hard — delayed timelines, blown budgets, and burned-out teams. We’ve seen this pattern many times.
A better approach? Start small. Validate early. Iterate often.
A well-known method rooted in scientific thinking is the Deming Cycle, or PDCA:
This loop fits extremely well with innovation work. But to make it effective, the team needs to move fast — which means breaking work down into smaller batches.
When tasks or experiments are too big, they take longer to complete and carry more uncertainty. Smaller batches flow through the team faster, with lower risk — creating a rapid feedback loop that accelerates learning.
This isn’t just theory. Reducing batch size reduces variation. Less variation = less accumulated risk across the workstream.
The most efficient batch size balances two types of costs:
The optimal point — where innovation flows fastest — is where those two costs are minimized. In lean product development, this is represented as a U-curve.
Agile teams that manage small batch sizes and keep feedback loops tight can validate a concept in under a month — some in just a few days. This speed leads to mastery, motivation, and significantly higher innovation throughput.
Meanwhile, teams with large batches, slow cycles, and no real feedback structure often stall or miss the mark entirely.
Innovation isn’t about isolated creativity. It’s about structured iteration, tight feedback loops, and continuously refining your ideas based on real-world signals.
Want to innovate faster? Break it down. Test it early. Learn before you commit.
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