Sustaining Versus Disruptive Innovation: Recognizing the Difference Changes Everything

Any organization pushing for growth and differentiation must handle two fundamentally different kinds of innovation. Sustaining innovation makes what’s already good better—streamlined service, improved performance, more options for existing customers. Disruptive innovation, in contrast, creates something that at first underwhelms established users but opens entirely fresh territory—sometimes serving people or needs never addressed before.

Mistaking one for the other leads to classic errors. If you manage a disruptive initiative by the rules of sustaining projects, you're likely to kill it off before it finds its own footing. Likewise, sustaining innovations thrive with careful planning and metrics, but disruptors often need patience and wild exploration.

By clearly separating the two types, organizations avoid muddled priorities, wasted effort, or culture clashes. Psychological research into categorization shows that being precise about definitions reduces error and improves outcomes. Recognizing what kind of innovation you're handling fundamentally changes how you judge success, structure teams, and cultivate long-term advantage.

Take a careful inventory of the ideas or projects you're working on. Are they truly upgrades for customers you already have, or are they attempts to reach new groups or satisfy needs others ignore? Flag the disruptive ones for a different set of rules and rewards—they'll need freedom, time, and creative room to grow. Apply your usual discipline to sustaining projects, but don't let those structures crush the promising seeds of something entirely new. Next quarterly planning cycle, use this lens as your first filter and watch how it reshapes your priorities and patient investment.