Portfolio Thinking for Innovation

As a company grows, it needs to manage a portfolio of activities. This includes managing existing lines of business, exploring new business models, and developing new sources of growth.

This requires a new kind of thinking, which is called portfolio thinking. Portfolio thinking is the ability to manage a portfolio of different kinds of work at the same time.

There are four major kinds of work that companies must manage:

1. New product development: This is the work of creating new products and services.
2. Growth and optimization: This is the work of growing and optimizing existing products and services.
3. Legacy products: This is the work of managing and maintaining legacy products and services.
4. Infrastructure: This is the work of building and maintaining the infrastructure that supports the company's products and services.

Each of these four kinds of work requires a different set of skills and a different management approach. By managing these four kinds of work as a portfolio, a company can ensure that it is investing its resources in the right places.

Portfolio thinking is essential for long-term growth and success. It allows a company to balance the needs of its existing business with the need to innovate and find new sources of growth.