I remember reading an article by management guru C K Prahalad wherein he states that innovation can broadly be classified into two categories: Continuous (Incremental) Innovation and Breakthrough Innovation. Both terms sound a bit abstract on the first look but the concept pretty much lies in their meaning. Lets give these terms a corporate tinge in order to dig them.

Close to a decade ago, Google took its first steps in the technological domain through its now legendary search engine. Even before Google had entered the market, there were the likes of Alta Vista who made sure that people at least knew what the concept of online search was. However, Google's search engine blew people's mind. No one had imagined that such precise and accurate information could actually be available at the next click. Next up, Google came up with another revolutionary online product which again took everyone by surprise i.e. Gmail. Since then, Google has been rolling out innovative products on a consistent basis but probably people have become so used to Google's innovation spree that the new roll outs no longer seem to be as fascinating as Google Search or Gmail. In short, Google has graduated from the phase of 'Breakthrough Innovation' to 'Incremental Innovation'.

In simple terms, 'Breakthrough Innovation' refers to occasional spurts of innovation which surprises one and all by shear might and uniqueness of the concept. Breakthrough innovations in someways tend to bring about a revolution worthy enough of setting up a new trend altogether. This is what happened when Google Search and Gmail were unveiled. On the other hand 'Incremental Innovation' refers to consistent innovation whose impact may not be as big as a breakthrough innovation but nevertheless it is unique in its own right. Gtalk, Google's online office utility, Google Earth, Google Desktop are examples of continuous innovation which didn't really have the same impact as the likes of Gmail and Google Search, but nevertheless helped the company establish itself as the numero uno innovator.

So the question is, what's more important for an organization? Breakthrough Innovation or Incremental Innovation or on the more diplomatic side, a combination of both? Its interesting to note that most of the technological bigwigs like Microsoft and Google started off as Breakthrough Innovators but gradually moulded into Incremental Innovators. But again there are the likes of Walmart and Toyota who for long have been Incremental Innovators but all off a sudden have started focussing on Breakthrough Innovation (Toyota plans to take the Hybrid Car market by storm). To add to the mystery, there's Apple, which has always promoted itself as a Breakthrough Innovator, never really concentrating on Incremental or Continous innovation. Some say, this is the reason why Apple despite being a top notch innovater has never really grown up to be the size of someone like Microsoft. The Apple CEO, Steve Jobs himself says that size doesnt really matter to him as long as Apple continues to shock the world with breakthough products.

I'm sure, most of you would say that at some stage you've got to have a combination of both but then history reveals that companies have come to be known based on the particular strategy of innovation they have adopted. For example,contrary to Apple, Microsoft caters to the needs of huge masses but clearly lags way behind when it comes to being labeled an innovator in the true sense. In fact most of its recent attempts at breakthrough innovation have completely fallen flat thereby giving the company a tag of being 'safe yet mundane'. Its unsuccessful attempts at Breakthrough Innovation is also being attributed as the major cause behind its losing some serious ground to Google which by the way seems to have understood the concept of innovation in the best possible manner. Google started off with breakthrough products, phased into the 'Incremental Innovation' stage for some time in order to consolidate on its initial momentum and now has again put on the top gear promising something as big as an OS in the near future.