Innovation During Economic Uncertainty: Lessons from Innov8rs 2024
Why smart companies invest when everyone else is burying gold in the backyard
By Tristan Kromer · Quick Answer: During economic uncertainty, innovation teams should not sit idle — this is precisely when savvy companies invest and acquire startups cheaply. As product managers, we need to identify where major trends (AI, decentralization, climate change) intersect with our organization’s blindspots, then propose a clear, strategy-aligned roadmap. Teams that can’t roll up their sleeves and engage in strategic discussions will see budgets slashed. If your company lacks a strategy, take the reins and create one yourself.
By Tristan Kromer
CEO & Founder of Kromatic
We’re done with the pandemic! Or are we? Despite some semblance of normalcy, economic uncertainty is as high as ever. Interest rates are going up and once reliable macroeconomic indicators have been stubbornly refusing to predict what will happen next. Will we have a recession? Will we have a soft-landing? Will we have an unexpected boom? Can startups get funded? When the situation is volatile, our instinct is to hoard our cash and bury the gold in the backyard. But this is the time when savvy investors are making big moves and smart corporations are buying up innovative startups cheaply while they can’t get VC funding. Innovation teams who are just twiddling their thumbs waiting for our new AI overlords to get smart enough to tell us what to do will be defunded. With risk, there is opportunity, and companies who can afford to invest will reap the rewards. Innovation teams can use this time to pursue big ideas with little cash if they can focus their resources on a clear roadmap which is aligned with the corporate strategy. If your company has no strategy, time to take the reins and create one yourself. Look for the trends, look for the gaps in your corporate silos. Where the trends intersect with an organizational blindspot - there is an opportunity for your innovation team to prove their worth and justify their budget. We know what the trends are: decentralization, robotics, AI, climate change, socioeconomic upheaval, migration and more. Use that foresight in combination with an understanding of your organization’s resources and structure to find the blindspots that are vulnerable to those trends. Business-as-usual won’t cut it. Innovation teams that can’t roll up their sleeves, get involved in the strategic discussion, and propose a clear path forward will find their budgets slashed and their mandate ultimately handed over to the learning and development team. Go innovate!
Read more in the 2024 Innov8ers Handbook.
Frequently Asked Questions
How should innovation teams operate during economic uncertainty?
Innovation teams should focus their limited resources on a clear roadmap aligned with corporate strategy rather than waiting for conditions to improve. As product managers, we need to identify where major trends—like AI, climate change, and decentralization—intersect with organizational blindspots. Teams that sit idle risk being defunded, while those who actively propose a strategic path forward can justify their budgets and prove their worth.
Why is economic uncertainty actually an opportunity for corporate innovation?
When economic conditions are volatile, smart corporations can acquire innovative startups cheaply because those startups can’t get VC funding. Meanwhile, innovation teams that pursue big ideas with little cash—by staying strategically focused—position themselves to reap outsized rewards. With risk comes opportunity, and companies willing to invest during downturns gain a competitive edge over those that simply hoard cash.
What should an innovation team do if their company has no clear strategy?
Take the reins and create one yourself. We should look for major trends like AI, robotics, decentralization, and climate change, then map them against gaps in our corporate silos. Where these trends intersect with organizational blindspots, there’s a concrete opportunity to propose strategic direction and demonstrate the innovation team’s value to leadership.
What happens to innovation teams that don’t engage in corporate strategy?
Innovation teams that can’t roll up their sleeves and get involved in strategic discussions will likely see their budgets slashed. Ultimately, their mandate gets handed over to learning and development teams. Business-as-usual won’t cut it during periods of economic uncertainty—teams need to actively propose a clear path forward or risk losing their reason to exist.
What major trends should innovation managers watch in 2024?
According to the 2024 Innov8rs Handbook, the key trends to monitor include decentralization, robotics, AI, climate change, socioeconomic upheaval, and migration. As innovation managers, we should combine foresight about these trends with a deep understanding of our organization’s resources and structure to identify vulnerabilities and opportunities that others in the company may be missing.
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