Change, to some, is exciting – disruption is enervating. To others, it is scary. Neither viewpoint is absolute – rather a reflection of our psychological makeup, and our precise context, i.e. what is at stake for me. To leaders, change and disruption are unavoidable and difficult to navigate but navigate we must.

We have explored elsewhere in the Imcon blog how an appreciation of our mindsets might help us to anticipate our individual response to change and provide clues to a leader on how to assist an organisation to most effectively navigate disruption.

We have explored, too, the deep allure of innovation, particularly in the arena of technology disruption. To the early adopter (me included – mea maxima culpa), the arrival of the latest technology can be compelling to the point of irresistibility.

But I invite us to pause for a moment and reflect upon an often-neglected aspect of innovation – the tension between evolution and revolution – specifically, why incremental changes matter.

We are so often captivated by stories of disruptive innovation — the breakthrough technologies and radical ideas that completely transform industries overnight. We celebrate the Teslas, the iPhones, and the Ubers of the world. And appropriately so — these innovations have fundamentally changed how we live and work.

But there’s another side to innovation that deserves far more attention than it receives: the power of incremental change. These are the modest improvements, the small tweaks, and the continuous refinements that might not make headlines but cumulatively drive significant progress over time.

The magnetic attraction of disruption is undeniable. It is dramatic, visible, and often quite profitable for those who successfully execute it. However, this narrative has created a somewhat distorted view of how innovation typically works in practice. Research by innovation scholars reveals that approximately 70% of successful innovations are actually incremental rather than revolutionary.

Consider Toyota’s production system. While not as flashy as launching an electric vehicle, Toyota’s famous Kaizen (continuous improvement) philosophy helped the company steadily enhance its manufacturing processes over decades. The cumulative effect of thousands of small improvements to reduce waste, increase efficiency, and improve quality positioned Toyota as one of the world’s leading automakers.

Incremental innovation offers several distinct advantages that disruptive approaches often lack.

Incremental changes involve substantially less risk than betting everything on a radical new direction. They allow organisations to test, learn, and adjust in smaller cycles without committing excessive resources. This creates a more sustainable innovation pathway, especially for established companies with existing revenue streams to protect.

While transformative innovation often requires years of development before market introduction, incremental improvements can be implemented quickly, allowing companies to respond more nimbly to emerging customer needs or competitive pressures.

The data consistently shows that incremental innovation efforts have higher success rates than disruptive ones. A study by Doblin, Deloitte’s innovation practice, found that incremental innovations have a success rate of around 70%, while transformational innovations succeed less than 10% of the time.

The process of making small improvements builds organisational muscles for innovation. Teams learn to identify opportunities, implement changes, measure results, and iterate based on feedback; all these are valuable capabilities that serve any innovation effort.

The true power of incremental innovation lies in its compound effect. Just as compound interest transforms modest investments into substantial sums over time, stacking small improvements can lead to remarkable outcomes.

Consider the British cycling team’s approach under performance director Dave Brailsford. His philosophy of “the aggregation of marginal gains” focused on finding 1% improvements in everything from rider nutrition to ergonomics to sleep quality. This seemingly modest approach helped transform British cycling from mediocrity to dominance, winning multiple Tour de France victories and Olympic gold medals.

Similarly, when Google constantly refines its search algorithms with hundreds of minor updates annually, the cumulative effect is a dramatically better search experience compared to a decade ago. Each individual change might be barely perceptible to users, but together they maintain Google’s market dominance.

What, then, is required for organisations to fully harness the power of incremental innovation?

First, create systems that acknowledge and celebrate incremental innovations, not just major breakthroughs. When Southwest Airlines implemented a suggestion from a ground crew member to slightly adjust aircraft parking positions at gates, it saved millions in fuel costs annually — a small idea with outsized impact.

Implement processes that continually gather information about customer pain points, emerging needs, and operational friction. These insights become the raw material for identifying incremental improvement opportunities.

Develop the infrastructure and skills needed to rapidly test small changes before full implementation. This might include A/B testing platforms, prototyping resources, or dedicated “innovation time” for employees to explore improvements to existing products or processes.

Direct incremental efforts toward meaningful challenges. Even small improvements in critical areas deliver more value than larger changes in unimportant domains. Focus is essential.

It is important in this analysis, however, not to create a false dichotomy between incremental and disruptive innovation. The most successful organisations don’t choose between incremental and disruptive innovation — they pursue both in parallel, creating a balanced innovation portfolio. While the R&D team might be working on breakthrough technologies for the future, operational teams simultaneously drive continuous improvement in existing offerings.

Companies like Apple exemplify this dual approach. While the introduction of the iPhone represented disruptive innovation, the company has subsequently released incremental improvements to the device year after year — better cameras, faster processors, improved displays — each representing valuable innovation in its own right.

In our quest for the next big thing, we must not overlook the sustained value that comes from getting a little better every day. The most innovative organisations understand that transformation often occurs through evolution rather than revolution — that small, consistent improvements compound into substantial competitive advantages over time.

As management thinker Peter Drucker noted, “The most effective way to manage change is to create it.” By embracing incremental innovation as a core strategy, organisations create their own change trajectory — one that may not generate immediate headlines but that builds lasting impact through the power of compound improvement.