Adjacent Innovation is a class of innovation project that expands from existing products or services into new markets, or brings new offerings to existing markets — leveraging something the business already has to reach beyond where it competes today. It carries more risk than Core Innovation and less than Disruptive Innovation, and is one of the three project classes used to define a portfolio mix. Adjacency is where many companies find their next leg of growth, but it depends on an honest read of which core strengths actually transfer to the new arena.
In BRI Associates' methodology, Adjacent projects carry a class profile distinct from Core and Disruptive — different investment, time-to-market, survival rates, and evaluation weightings — and the mix across the three classes is set to match a portfolio's growth objective. Project classes are configurable per portfolio. For the full treatment, see the Portfolio Management pillar at /supporting/portfolio-management. Related Terminology Index entries: Core Innovation; Disruptive Innovation; Portfolio Strategy; Portfolio Mix; Class Profile.
