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# Getting The Timing Right For An Innovation – Like a slate!
- URL: https://www.philmckinney.com/getting-the-timing-right-for-an-innovation/
- Published: 2010-03-08T17:25:42.000Z
- Updated: 2016-06-21T14:26:39.000Z
- Description: I’m a firm believer that the difference between a good idea and a great idea is getting the timing right. There are a number of items to consider when deciding when is the right time to bring an innovation to market. For example: Is there a technology coming that will transform the experience/marke
- Author: Phil McKinney
- Tags: Blog, Case Studies, business innovation, e-book, e-reader, getting the timing right, HP, HP slate, marketing innovaiton, product innovation, slate, Technology, #wp, #wp-post, #philmckinneycom, #Import 2023-05-01 05:17

I'm a firm believer that the difference between a good idea and a great idea is getting the timing right. There are a number of items to consider when deciding when is the right time to bring an innovation to market.

For example:

- Is there a technology coming that will transform the experience/market?
- Are customers ready to accept and adopt this innovation?
- Is the sales channel mature enough to support the introduction of a new innovation?
- Can you bring it all together at a price that will drive broad adoption?

It takes management discipline (and support) to hold off. The constant mantra of “not yet” can wear on even the most resilient of executives. But getting the timing wrong can mean being way ahead of the market and the result is a quickly forgotten bump in the innovation landscape.

Let's take the new slate form factor as real-world example. The timeline for the slate that we've been working on is as follows:

- Nov 1998 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) Research Group – “[Virtual Book](http://www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/Compaq-DEC/SRC-RR-157.pdf?jumpid=reg%5FR1002%5FUSEN&ref=philmckinney.com)“
- May 2004 – HP Labs unveils [“E-Book”](http://www.hpl.hp.com/news/2004/apr-jun/mediaviewer%5Fbackground.html?jumpid=reg%5FR1002%5FUSEN&ref=philmckinney.com)
- July 2007 – Public video demonstration of [“HP Labs E-Book Device”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXGB2m3EqOU&feature=PlayList&p=DC20885FBF5A8826&index=10&ref=philmckinney.com)
- August 2009 – [Video](http://h30418.www3.hp.com/index.jsp?fr%5Fstory=c7921ace3881b556ab74451ac7da2d34a2edfe33&ref=philmckinney.com) of device form factor discussion including slate
- January 5, 2010 – [Video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FweWpliJdH0&ref=philmckinney.com) of my annual predictions for CES (including a prediction of the slate category)
- January 6, 2010 – [Video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIIjTDnX2Y0&ref=philmckinney.com) showing highlights of the HP slate device
- January 7, 2010 – [Video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En7cdBhlrGU&ref=philmckinney.com) of the reveal of the HP slate at CES
- January 10, 2010 – [Video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVyftss5-uQ&ref=philmckinney.com) at following CES reviewing how well I did on my predictions
- January 25, 2010 – [Video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apwIiqIKf84&ref=philmckinney.com) demonstration of the slate device deep dive

Only time will tell if any given innovation is getting the timing right.