Ambition Matrix: What It Is and How To Use It

The Innovation Ambition Matrix is a template popularized by Bansi Nagji and Geoff Tuff in the Harvard Business Review article that helps businesses differentiate between core and innovative expansion ideas to improve and expand their business strategically without losing their brand positioning. This matrix focuses on three different categories to define ideas or innovations: core, adjacent, and transformational, with touchpoints on existing, emerging, and new. The best practice is a 70-20-10 split with 70% of ideas guided towards core innovation, 20% towards adjacent innovation, and 10% towards transformational innovation. This helps keep everyone aligned toward the greater goals and ensures the perfect balance of new and existing features in the future.