Innovation is all about finding and filling people's unmet needs. But even innovators and organizations renowned for their scanning capabilities often have trouble perceiving and correctly interpreting those needs. Drawing on their work as researchers, teachers, and consultants, the authors outline a four-part framework to help innovators diversify how and where they look. It involves two main strategies: improving your vision (seeing in greater detail) and challenging your vision (looking at people other than mainstream users). Within each you can adopt a narrow focus or take a wider view. You can zoom in on individual mainstream users and their everyday experiences (what the authors call a microscope strategy) or pull back to discover patterns in their aggregate behavior (a panorama strategy). Likewise, you can take a look at users outside your core (a telescope strategy) or seek a broader view of the patterns they exhibit as a group (a kaleidoscope strategy). For each of the framework's four parts, the authors describe how digital technologies can augment more-traditional ways of looking. Used together, the approaches they present will enable entrepreneurs to look further afield and on a larger scale than ever before.

Innovators can be their own worst enemies, derailed by personal traits, such as confidence and optimism, that are essential to creativity but can be toxic when taken to an extreme, and by emotions such as fear, doubt, regret, and frustration, which are typical when trying something new but can too easily stall or destroy entrepreneurial efforts. And although practical advice abounds on how to innovate, in-depth guidance on conquering these mental challenges is harder to find. The authors draw on published interviews, videos, and speeches to describe the obstacles encountered by some high-profile entrepreneurs and illuminate the paths by which they moved forward. They explore practical tactics for overcoming the fear of getting started, the frustration of setbacks, an excess of creativity, and a tendency to go into hyperdrive. Innovators must become mindful of their habitual ways of thinking and behaving, the authors argue. Thus armed, they can reach out for feedback or mentoring--for help in becoming a more skillful version of themselves.

Innovators who experiment solely to validate their idea are making a dangerous mistake, and the authors point to the inventor of the Segway as a prime example. The purpose of experimentation should always be twofold, they say: to test an assumption and learn from the testing, so you can decide whether to persevere, pivot-or pull out. They show how 'radical innovators' use experiments to validate and investigate. Their investigation is a more open-ended form of experimentation, designed to illuminate overlooked factors or preferences. Most importantly, it leaves room for unexpected insights to emerge along the journey to product launch.

The case introduces a classic digital disruption process applied to a secular sector, wealth management. It explains the current challenges of this industry, which has undergone severe changes following the recent financial crisis. It shows that even an industry for which the main key success factor has been the personal relationship and trust between the client and its advisors, is not resilient to digitalization. The change is driven by technology and rapidly changing consumer habits. Based on the story of Personal Capital - one of the companies on the very forefront of these changes, the case shows how Fin techs can play a part in wealth management and in the long run changes the landscape of the industry thereby disrupting large and well established incumbent players. The case goes in detail to understand if the strategies pursued by Personal Capital: -to position itself as a tech augmented human platform. -To aim at mass affluent market and sizeable accounts; -To consider adjacent sectors such as provision of mortgages and insurance as the next expansion opportunities; are the right strategies to pursue in this market. Furthermore, it researches the financial implications of the strategies also in comparison with the competition in that field. At the same time the case tries to position the financial performances of the companies into a broader development of the industry and competitive forces. The case concludes with multiple dilemmas translated into imminent decisions that need to be taken: What is the right strategy for further market expansion and growth? Should Personal Capital be sold to a large incumbent based on current valuation or go for another round of financing to stay independent? The underlying fundamental question being: do we believe that the new players can take the space of the traditional player and or will they lose the battle against those powerful institutions?

The case describes two transformation journeys for ABN AMRO bank. The first transformation is cultural and the second is digital. It explores the interplay between these two journeys from the perspective of the head of the Personal Banking. The case goes into detail regarding how to bank rebuilt its internal operating model. The hierarchy was delayered and replaced with agile ways of working, employee empowerment, and a new performance management approach. At first, there was a lot of chaos, but, after some time for adjustment, benefits started to appear, such as higher NPS scores, and better financial results. The new approach also helped the bank cope with the COVID-19 pandemic as many of the changes were linked to remote working for employees and technology-mediated service provision for customers. Yet, the case describes the appearance of some new challenges. While some teams embraced the new ways of working, others had trouble letting go of legacy approaches. There were some inconsistencies and confusion around performance measurement. Despite improving performance in some areas, multifunctional teams were not necessarily delivering the best customer experiences. Sick leave was increasing, and there were signs that employee engagement was falling. The reader is placed in the shoes of the head of Personal Banking must to come up with solutions to these challenges.

Digital initiatives often suffer from poor governance when it comes to providing structure and governance to digital transformation projects, from finding alignment between business processes to assigning ownership for change efforts. Executives need to rethink their governance approach for digital transformation in a way that prioritizes active enablement over control. Seven key governing principles linked to successful digital business transformation can help.

Striking the right balance between competence and credibility is essential to digital leaders' success, but it depends on what a company expects its CDO to do. While external candidates can bring critical digital competence and experience to organizations seeking a better digital footing, they may struggle to build the necessary credibility for organizational change.

Digital advances in the past two decades have enabled more people than ever before to express creative intelligence. Yet apart from the transformation of services powered by mobile apps and the internet, few sectors have seen spectacular surges of innovation--and only 43% of companies have what experts consider a well-defined process for it. In this article the authors present a five-part framework to guide the development and ensure the survival of breakthrough ideas: Focus attention closely and with fresh eyes, step back to gain perspective, imagine unorthodox combinations, experiment quickly and smartly, and navigate potentially hostile environments outside and within the organization. The elements of this framework are not unique, but collectively they capture the critical role of reflection in conceiving opportunities, the ways in which digital tools can advance them, and the level of organizational reinvention needed in the final push to market.

The payment processing industry in Europe had operated in largely the same way for decades. A standard system of financial processing and clearing ensured a steady profit pool for most of the players. However, the payments system in Europe was facing threats on a series of fronts, including changing regulation that shifted power away from some incumbents, lower prices, new competitors, and more demanding customers. One of the region's large players, Swiss-based SIX Payment Services, needed to decide how to respond to these threats.

Supplement to case IMD797. The case explores the response that Swiss-based SIX Payment Services decided to make in the face of disruptive threats to the European payments industry.