Cramming New Innovations Into Old Business Models Almost Always Backfires

Consider the story of a major camera company adapting to the digital era. Facing the rise of digital imaging, decision-makers began investing billions to ensure their traditional products also offered the new digital features—yet their strategy centered on convincing established film customers to switch over. As a result, their first digital cameras were expensive, over-engineered, and underwhelming for tech-savvy newcomers. The company spent more money retrofitting features for old audiences instead of releasing simple, cheaper cameras for new users. Meanwhile, upstart competitors won over a new wave of casual photographers with devices that were good enough, even with obvious limitations.

In behavioral science, this is called “cramming”: inserting a radically new idea into an old structure, stripping away its disruptive potential to serve familiar, comfortable priorities. But the changes people truly want often emerge far outside the current customer base. Recognizing when to let a new product grow outside the boundaries of your existing organization isn’t just smart—it often means the difference between future relevance and rapid decline.

As you bring in a fresh idea, check your approach: are you making endless tweaks to fit old customer expectations or established procedures? Step back and ask if this solution’s real strength appeals more to a different, perhaps overlooked, group—maybe new learners or hobbyists. Give your innovation a space where it doesn’t have to meet all the traditional benchmarks, even if that means starting small or letting a different team run it. Don’t let the comfort of legacy priorities dilute a breakthrough. Watch for this pattern in your own work this month and see if you can carve out space for something genuinely new.