The Three Horizons & Innovation Portfolios
How does a business innovate for today and tomorrow at the same time? The Three Horizons model gives a simple, powerful answer: run three parallel pipelines - Horizon 1 (defend and extend the core), Horizon 2 (build emerging opportunities), and Horizon 3 (create options for the future). Managing all three at once is how a business stays profitable now and resilient later.
Quick poll
Where does your organisation put most of its innovation attention?
Pick the answer that fits you best - there's no wrong choice.
Horizon 1
Defend & extend the core
Horizon 2
Build emerging opportunities
Horizon 3
Create future options
Learning objectives
After completing this module, you'll be able to:
- Explain the Three Horizons model and what each horizon contains
- Balance an innovation portfolio across the three horizons
- Understand why each horizon needs different metrics, funding, and management
- Combine top-down and bottom-up inputs to fill the horizons
- Recognise how the Three Horizons relate to the Growth Pathways
In this module
Sources & Further Reading
- •Baghai, Coley & White, The Alchemy of Growth, 1999 (McKinsey Three Horizons).
- •Global Innovation Institute (GInI), Foundations of Innovation body of knowledge.
- •Nagji, B. & Tuff, G., "Managing Your Innovation Portfolio", HBR, 2012.
- •Govindarajan, V., The Three-Box Solution, 2016.