David Robertson Keynote: The Art of Measured Innovation

Speaking at the Physician Leadership Summit, the MIT Sloan lecturer disputes the idea that companies must invest in radical innovation to stay ahead of the competition.

David Robertson talks about low-risk, high reward disruption: A lot of companies believe “if we don’t look at the disruptive forces in our lives then we’re going to be left behind. “I don’t subscribe to that.”

Industry innovation doesn’t need to be disruptive to succeed. That was the message of David Robertson, the keynote speaker for the Thought Leadership Summit in April during the 2018 AAPL Physician Leadership Summit in Boston.

A lot of companies, he said, believe “if we don’t look at the disruptive forces in our lives then we’re going to be left behind.”

David Robertson address attendees to kick off the Thought Leadership Symposium in Boston. | AAPL

“I don’t subscribe to that,” said Robertson, a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School Management, where he teaches product development and digital product management, and the author of The Power of Little Ideas: A Low-Risk, High-Reward Approach to Innovation.

He disputes the idea that companies must invest in radical innovation to survive or stay ahead of the competition. Rather than reinvent the wheel, Robertson suggests “creating a family of complementary innovations around a product or service, all of which work together to make that product more appealing and competitive.”

He suggests thinking about innovation as “dating your customer” – to find out about them, listen to them and try to understand them. You don’t want to change the patient-physician relationship, he said. You want to enhance it by taking a “complimentary approach.”

AAPL President and CEO Dr. Peter Angood opens up the Symposium before the Robertson’s keynote address. | AAPL