Innovation at Ecosystem Scale

Innovation rarely fails because ideas are weak.

It fails because innovations are introduced into systems that are not prepared to absorb them.

Innovation at ecosystem scale recognizes that products, services, policies, and initiatives exist within layered systems of incentives, relationships, governance, and value exchange.

This work designs innovation with those realities in view.

What Innovation at Ecosystem Scale Means

Most innovation efforts focus at one level:

  • Improving a product

  • Redesigning a service

  • Introducing a new tool

  • Launching a new initiative

These efforts matter. But when they are not aligned with the broader ecosystem, their impact remains limited.

Innovation at ecosystem scale asks:

  • How does this initiative interact with other actors?

  • What value exchanges does it strengthen or disrupt?

  • What governance or capacity shifts are required?

  • How will this change ripple through the system?

Innovation becomes coordinated rather than isolated.

Four Orders of Innovation

In The Ecosystem Project, we explored innovation across four interrelated orders of complexity:

  1. Transactional
  2. Functional
  3. Strategic
  4. Ecosystemic

We’ve applied these to our product innovation work and have found that these orders help teams see where they are innovating, where alignment may be missing, and where fresh opportunities may be hiding.

1. Transactional

Improving the utility or usability of a specific interaction.

Examples include refining tools, redesigning interfaces, adjusting policies, or improving individual touchpoints.

This level focuses on direct experience and immediate performance.

2. Functional

Improving processes and collaboration across teams or services.

This may include redesigning workflows, clarifying roles, improving service coordination, or enhancing information flows.

This level focuses on outcomes across functions.

3. Strategic

Aligning innovation efforts with mission, priorities, and resource allocation.

This includes clarifying focus, sequencing initiatives, and ensuring that innovation supports long-term direction.

This level focuses on coherence over time.

4. Ecosystemic

Designing interventions that consider multi-stakeholder dynamics and broader system health.

This may include:

  • Cross-organizational partnerships

  • Policy shifts

  • Incentive realignment

  • Structural change across sectors

This level focuses on fit-to-purpose across the broader ecosystem.

Innovation at ecosystem scale does not replace lower orders of innovation. It integrates them.

How the Work Unfolds

Each engagement is shaped by context, but typically includes:

  • Clarifying the Innovation Question
  • Identifying the relevant order or orders of complexity
  • Mapping stakeholders and value dynamics
  • Surfacing constraints and enablers
  • Designing coordinated interventions
  • Establishing feedback loops for learning and adaptation

This process often builds on ecosystem illumination or strategic planning work, but it can also stand alone.

ROI of Innovation

Innovation must create value that is visible and measurable.

In the ROI of UX engagements, we worked with teams to articulate value at multiple levels:

  • Improved usability and adoption

  • Increased operational efficiency

  • Reduced risk and friction

  • Stronger strategic alignment

  • Broader ecosystem impact

This framing helps organizations move beyond activity to demonstrable impact.

Innovation is not judged by novelty. It is judged by value created and sustained.

What This Process Produces

Innovation at ecosystem scale produces:

  • Clear articulation of value across stakeholders

  • Coordinated interventions rather than isolated initiatives

  • Alignment across orders of complexity

  • Greater likelihood of adoption and durability

  • Stronger return on investment

It supports leaders in moving from experimentation to systemic change.

Relationship to Other Services

Ecosystem Illumination makes the system visible.

Systems-Aware Strategic Planning defines direction.

Innovation at Ecosystem Scale designs and implements interventions that fit within that system and direction.

Together, these approaches support coherent transformation.