The Innovation Delta model: A different approach to assessing business value

Think back to the year 2000. The Internet was still new and the dot-com bubble had just burst. Now, imagine you were part of video-rental giant Blockbuster’s team charged with deciding if you should pay US$50 million to buy struggling Netflix? The start-up wasn’t targeting your core market, your offering was far better quality, and there was no immediate competitive threat. Would you have seen its potential as a market disruptor and jumped at the chance? Or, would you have taken the narrow view, as the team at the now defunct Blockbuster did, and walked away?

In today’s highly competitive business environment, innovation is vital to increasing value for your customers, your company and your shareholders. This is an opportunity for CPAs to step up and take on the responsibilities of chief value officers (CVO) for their organizations, and become “the true change maker inside a company,” as stated by Mervyn King, chair emeritus of the International Integrated Reporting Council, in an article for The CPA Journal.

To successfully take on the CVO role, CPAs need to look beyond the numbers and view innovation not simply as a new technology, but through a business lens and to understand its value-creation potential. They also need to be more willing to encourage their organizations to take appropriate risks when it comes to trying new innovative ideas and products. More than this, CPAs must be able to explain an innovation’s purpose, impact and value to stakeholders.

Hoping to become the person who could spot the next great business success? Download our Innovation Delta Model publication to learn how to think differently and develop an innovation mindset.