Innovation portfolio
Managing innovation as a portfolio: deciding what to feed, what to pause and what to stop. And the governance that makes those decisions stick after the meeting ends.
12 articlesAll in innovation portfolio
Business portfolio map: a practitioner's honest assessment
The Business Portfolio Map gives leadership teams a visual snapshot of their innovation portfolio. But after using it in 50+ sessions with industrial companies, I know where it helps and where it needs adaptation. Here is an honest assessment.
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Innovation portfolio governance: how to run review meetings that actually decide
Your innovation portfolio strategy might be brilliant. But if your review meetings produce status updates instead of kill, pivot, or invest decisions, nothing changes. After 100+ portfolio governance sessions, here is what separates functional governance from update theater.
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Innovation portfolio management for B2B: what generic guides get wrong
Most innovation portfolio advice is built for consumer markets. B2B companies face longer sales cycles, procurement committees, and channel partner dynamics that change how you balance explore and exploit. Here is what to do differently.
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The Invincible Company portfolio map: a practitioner's honest review
The Invincible Company introduced a portfolio map that changed how leadership teams see innovation. After using it in a range of industrial companies, I can tell you exactly what works, what is missing, and what you need to add before it becomes a management tool.
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How to kill an innovation project without killing the culture
Every company says they are willing to kill innovation projects. Almost none of them do it well. After 100+ portfolio sessions with industrial companies, I have seen what separates clean kills from culture damage. The difference is not courage. It is governance.
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Three horizons of innovation: what it gets right and what it gets wrong
The Three Horizons framework is everywhere in boardrooms. After using it at 50+ industrial companies, I can tell you where it works, where it misleads, and what to use instead when your portfolio needs sharper tools than neat S-curves.
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Business Portfolio Map vs Three Horizons vs BCG Matrix: which framework when?
Six portfolio frameworks. Most companies pick one based on what their consultant knows. After reviewing innovation portfolios at 50+ industrial companies, I use a different approach: start with your situation, then select the framework. Here is the decision tree.
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Explore vs exploit: balancing innovation and core business
Every company says it values innovation. Then the quarterly review arrives and explore loses to exploit. Again. After working with 50+ industrial companies on their innovation portfolios, here is what actually works to protect explore from exploit's gravitational pull.
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How to allocate your innovation portfolio: beyond the 70-20-10 rule
Everyone quotes the 70-20-10 rule. Almost nobody questions it. After 100+ portfolio sessions with industrial companies, I can tell you: the right innovation portfolio allocation depends on factors that a generic rule cannot capture. Here is how to find yours.
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Innovation Portfolio Management: How to Balance Explore and Exploit Without Killing Growth (2026)
Most companies say innovation is a strategic priority. Then 90-95% of the budget goes to core improvements and explore starves. This guide covers which portfolio frameworks work when, how to build governance that actually protects explore budgets, and the manufacturing reality that most portfolio advice ignores.
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8 Innovation portfolio mistakes that keep companies funding the wrong projects
Most companies say innovation is a strategic priority. Then 95% of the budget goes to core. After reviewing innovation portfolios at 50+ industrial companies, I keep seeing the same eight mistakes. Not strategy problems. Governance problems. The kind that quietly ensure the wrong projects get funded year after year.
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Innovation Portfolio Management for Manufacturing: Why standard portfolio advice fails on the factory floor
Every innovation portfolio guide assumes cheap experiments and fast pivots. In manufacturing, each explore bet costs €500.000+ in tooling, validation takes 12 to 18 months, and regulatory approval adds another year. After managing portfolios in 50+ industrial companies, here is what works when stakes are measured in production lines.
Read the article →Most companies know their innovation isn't working. Few know why.
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