Innovation Glossary
A shared language is the foundation of smart innovation and better decisions.
This glossary gives you clear definitions across innovation strategy, business model design, Jobs to Be Done, corporate transformation, systems thinking, and leadership under uncertainty.
A
Adoption
The moment someone replaces their old approach with a new one. Adoption is switching, not enthusiasm.
Agency
A person’s sense of control and ability to act. Innovations that reduce agency rarely succeed.
Ambidexterity (Explore vs. Exploit)
The ability to run today’s business efficiently while exploring new opportunities.
Assumption
An untested belief treated as fact. Most strategy errors begin here.
Assumption Testing
Small, fast experiments designed to validate or invalidate beliefs behind an idea or business model.
Attractiveness (Opportunity)
A measure of how important, underserved, and frequent a customer struggle is.
B
Barrier to Switching
Any emotional, practical, or social force that makes people stay with their current solution.
Behavioral Signal
An action pattern that reveals real choices, not stated preferences.
Belief Barrier
A mental model that blocks new adoption.
Blue Ocean Strategy
Creating uncontested market space by redefining value.
Bounded Rationality
People choose what feels safe and workable, not what is theoretically optimal.
Business Model
How value is created, delivered, and captured.
Business Model Innovation
Rewiring how a company operates, charges, delivers value, and scales.
See: https://innovationand.org/p/why-startups-really-fail-looking?r=gnh4s
C
Capability
A repeatable skill or system that enables consistent progress.
Category Shift
When customers change what they compare you to, shifting competitive logic.
Change Fatigue
Emotional exhaustion caused by ongoing transformation.
Chasm (Technology Adoption)
The gap between early adopters and the early majority.
Cognitive Load
The mental effort required to understand or use something.
Consequence Mapping
Identifying second- and third-order effects of decisions.
Cost Structure
How expenses scale with growth and complexity.
Cultural Tension
A mismatch between what a company says and how it behaves.
D
Decision Lens
Criteria leaders use to judge ideas. The right lens matters more than the idea itself.
Demand
Willingness to pay + willingness to switch.
Disruption
A shift that rewrites market rules.
See: https://innovationand.org/p/beyond-disruption-rethinking-innovation?r=gnh4s
Discovery
Learning what’s true before deciding what to build.
Discovery vs. Delivery
Discovery = learning. Delivery = execution.
E
Early Indicator
A subtle sign of future shifts: language changes, new habits, emerging anxieties.
Ecosystem
The network of partners, constraints, incentives, and norms shaping value.
Emotional Job
Progress someone seeks to feel capable, safe, respected, or confident.
Experiment
A test that reduces uncertainty.
Explore Mode
Operating under uncertainty: sensing, learning, and adjusting.
F
Feature Fallacy
The belief that more features increase value.
First Principles
Breaking a problem down to fundamental truths.
Friction
Anything that slows or blocks progress.
G
Gatekeeper
Anyone who can block adoption (compliance, procurement, IT).
Goal Gradient
Motivation increases as visible progress increases.
Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy
How an offering reaches customers and converts demand.
H
Habit Strength
The invisible competitor blocking your innovation.
Hypothesis
A statement that can be proven wrong, guiding experiments.
I
Identity Job
Progress tied to self-image.
Incentive Design
The reward structures that shape choices inside a company.
Inflection Point
A moment when the underlying market logic shifts.
Innovation Debt
The cost of postponing necessary upgrades or explorations.
Innovation Funnel
A linear filtering model — often misused because exploration is not linear.
Innovation Governance
How decisions are made about funding, speed, and risk.
Insight
A shift in understanding that changes decisions.
Inertia
The forces that keep a system locked in outdated patterns.
Intrapreneur
Someone inside a company who behaves like a founder.
J
Job Performer
The actor trying to make progress: users, buyers, payers, influencers, gatekeepers.
Job to Be Done (JTBD)
The progress someone seeks in a situation, shaped by functional, social, and emotional forces.
Job Map
A breakdown of steps someone takes to make progress.
K
Key Metrics
Signals that measure real progress, not vanity.
Knowledge Debt
Accumulated gaps in understanding.
L
Learning Velocity
How quickly a team reduces uncertainty.
Lifetime Value (LTV)
Revenue generated across a customer relationship.
M
Meaning Clarity
How well people understand the purpose of an offering.
Mental Model
How someone interprets the world.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
A learning tool to test real behavior.
Mission Leakage
When actions drift away from stated purpose.
Market Signal
Any data point showing a shift in expectations or needs.
N
Needs vs. Progress
Needs describe a state. Progress describes movement.
Non-Consumption
When someone cannot solve a problem due to barriers like cost or complexity.
O
Opportunity
A meaningful struggle where current options fall short.
See: https://innovationand.org/p/beyond-the-opportunity-landscape?r=gnh4s
Optionality
Keeping multiple paths open while learning.
Outcome
A measurable result someone wants.
Output
Activity without guaranteed progress.
P
Paradigm Shift
A change in the underlying logic of a market.
Payback Period
How long until an investment returns value.
Portfolio
A set of initiatives with different risk profiles.
Problem Framing
Defining the problem in a way that guides effective solutions.
Product-Market Fit
When a solution reliably enables progress and earns repeat use.
Progress
Meaningful forward movement.
See: https://innovationand.org/p/why-companies-kill-their-smartest?r=gnh4s
Q
Qualitative Insight
Patterns revealed through interviews and observation.
R
Relevance
How well an offering fits today’s expectations.
See: https://innovationand.org/p/beyond-disruption-rethinking-innovation?r=gnh4s
Resistance
Emotional or structural forces that block change.
Revenue Model
How money flows into a business.
S
Sensemaking
Interpreting signals and tensions to guide decisions.
Shadow IT
Unofficial tools employees create when official systems fail them.
Silent Talent Flight
People leaving because the direction no longer resonates.
Strategy
A choice about what to pursue — and what not to.
Switching Forces
Pushes, pulls, anxieties, and habits that shape adoption.
T
Transformation
A shift in how a company works, decides, and creates value.
Tension
A conflict between desires and systemic constraints.
Trust Gap
Missing credibility that prevents adoption.
U
Underserved Outcome
A desired result that current solutions fail to deliver.
Unit Economics
The financial mechanics of serving one customer.
V
Value Chain
How value flows across actors and systems.
Value Proposition
A clear statement of how you help someone make progress.
W–Z
Weak Signal
Early, ambiguous signs of change.
Workaround
A creative fix people use when systems fail them.