by Braden Kelley and Art Inteligencia
What Are the Different Types of Innovation? (Short Answer)
Types of innovation are usually grouped in two ways: by how big the change is (incremental, adjacent or sustaining, radical, and disruptive) and by what changes (product, service, process, business model, experience, and ecosystem). The useful question isn’t “which list is right?” It’s “which type fits the problem, the customer, and our capacity to adopt?”
Don’t pick a type of innovation because it sounds impressive. Pick the type the customer’s job and your organization can actually absorb.
Search “types of innovation” and you’ll get competing lists — ten types, four types, three horizons, incremental versus radical. Below you’ll find a practical way to use both lenses, clear definitions with examples, how incremental differs from disruptive, and five questions for choosing the right type. One reminder up front: type doesn’t override the definition. If it isn’t widely adopted and valued above alternatives, it isn’t innovation yet — see What Is Innovation? A Clear Definition, With Examples.
How Should You Group Types of Innovation?
There isn’t one correct list. There are two useful lenses:
- Lens 1 — Degree of change: how far the idea is from today’s offering and operating model (incremental → adjacent → radical / disruptive).
- Lens 2 — Where you innovate: which part of the offering or organization changes (product, service, process, business model, experience, ecosystem).
You can mix the lenses. An incremental process innovation is different from a disruptive business-model innovation. Lists conflict because consultants name categories for books; leaders need a decision tool. I also describe how decision-makers feel about these leaps as Safe, Stretch, and Splatter in 3 Innovation Types That Actually Determine Success — that framing sits on top of degree of change, not instead of it.
Taxonomies describe the map. Strategy chooses the route.
What Are the Types of Innovation by Degree of Change?
| Type | What it means | Example | When to use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incremental | Improve what already exists — better, faster, cheaper, more reliable | Successive smartphone camera upgrades | Keep winning today’s customers |
| Adjacent / sustaining stretch | Apply known capabilities to new customers, channels, or use cases — or known customers to new capabilities | A B2B tool adapted for consumers (or the reverse) | Grow without betting the whole firm |
| Radical | A fundamentally new approach that remakes how a job gets done | Contact lenses or laser surgery vs. glass spectacles | The current approach is hitting limits |
| Disruptive | Usually starts simpler, cheaper, or more accessible — often for overlooked customers — then improves until it displaces incumbents (Christensen’s sense) | Streaming video vs. DVD rental for many households | A market ignores a segment or overserves with complexity |
Mislabel tells: calling a feature tweak “transformational”; calling adjacency “safe” when it still needs a new go-to-market; inventing something novel that nobody adopts and labeling it radical; using “disruptive” as a synonym for “cool” or “big.” That last habit is a classic costume — see 7 Types of Innovation Theater.
Incremental isn’t lesser. Over time, most value often comes from sustained incremental innovation plus a smaller set of bigger bets. For how invention, innovation, and lasting impact differ, see 7 Differences Between Invention, Innovation, and Impact.
What Are the Types of Innovation by What Changes?
The second lens asks where the innovation lives:
- Product — a new or meaningfully improved offering (for example, a bagless vacuum that changed performance expectations).
- Service — how help and support create value (empowered service that becomes a reason to choose you).
- Process — how work gets done (the shipping container; the surgical safety checklist).
- Business model — how you create, deliver, and capture value (razor-and-blades; subscription where ownership was the norm).
- Experience — the end-to-end journey and how it feels (retail experiences designed so people can try before they buy).
- Ecosystem / system — partnerships, platforms, and networks (app stores and open ecosystems that multiply value).
Finer frameworks (for example, Doblin’s ten types) slice these further into profit model, channel, brand, and more. For most teams, these six are enough to start. Innovating in more than one place at once — product and business model, process and experience — often beats a single feature race.
What Is the Difference Between Incremental and Disruptive Innovation?
| Incremental | Disruptive | |
|---|---|---|
| Customers | Improves for existing customers | Often starts with overlooked or new customers |
| Business model | Fits the current model | Often requires a new model |
| Uncertainty | Lower | Higher; payoff may take longer |
| Effect on the core | Protects and extends the core | Can threaten the core |
| How you measure | Performance gains on today’s metrics | Adoption along a new trajectory |
Organizations that only fund “disruptive” starve the core. Organizations that only fund incremental get surprised. You need both — with different owners, metrics, and patience. For measures that go beyond idea count, see 12 Metrics That Actually Measure Innovation Value.
How Do You Choose the Right Type of Innovation?
Use these five questions before you fund the next bet:
- What job is the customer hiring us to do — and is the current solution failing?
- How much change can our customers absorb right now?
- How much change can our operating model absorb — skills, channels, metrics, partners?
- Are we trying to win today’s game, enter an adjacent game, or change the game?
- Who owns adoption — not only the build?
Portfolio advice: run a mix. Most of the portfolio should be incremental and adjacent. A smaller share can be radical or disruptive, with different metrics and more patience. Soft landings match the type to capacity. Hard landings choose the type for the slide title.
The best type of innovation is the one that gets adopted — by the people you meant to serve.
FAQ: Types of Innovation
What are the main types of innovation?
The main types are usually grouped by degree of change — incremental, adjacent or sustaining, radical, and disruptive — and by what changes — product, service, process, business model, experience, and ecosystem. Many organizations use both lenses together.
What is the difference between incremental and disruptive innovation?
Incremental innovation improves an existing offering for current customers within the current business model. Disruptive innovation often starts simpler or more accessible for overlooked customers, may require a new business model, and can eventually displace incumbents as it improves.
What is radical innovation?
Radical innovation is a fundamentally new approach that remakes how a job gets done, rather than improving the current method. Contact lenses and laser eye surgery versus glass spectacles are classic examples of radical change compared with incremental improvements to existing lenses.
What are examples of different types of innovation?
Examples include smartphone camera upgrades (incremental), adapting a B2B tool for consumers (adjacent), laser eye surgery versus spectacles (radical), streaming versus DVD rental (disruptive), the shipping container (process), subscription models replacing ownership (business model), and app-store ecosystems (ecosystem).
How do I know which type of innovation to pursue?
Match the type to the customer’s job, how much change customers and your operating model can absorb, whether you aim to win today’s game or change it, and who owns adoption. Most portfolios should emphasize incremental and adjacent innovation, with a smaller share of radical or disruptive bets.
Image credits: Gemini
Content Authenticity Statement: The topic area, key elements to focus on, etc. were decisions made by Braden Kelley, with a little help from Google Gemini and M365 CoPilot to clean up the article, add images and create infographics.
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