What is proactive discovery?
A working definition from MIT Sloan
proactive discovery (noun)
Work undertaken to identify the many possibilities an invention might offer.
Accelerometer chips are now ubiquitous. The speed and orientation sensors are used to detect portrait or landscape mode in cellphones, to add motion-sensing capabilities to video games, and even to sense seismic activity. Yet the company that developed these chips initially focused on uses in the automotive industry, such as deploying airbags.
An innovation’s true potential is often unveiled over time. Companies need to build their innovation management systems with this in mind, according to MIT researchers Wenjing Lyu and Neil Thompson and Babson College professor Gina Colarelli O’Connor.
Writing in MIT Sloan Management Review, the researchers examine the value of taking early action to identify applications, use cases, and markets that might be created by a new advancement. Actions can include outreach to thought leaders and engagement with experts from other industries.
“Unanticipated use cases emerge and, in many instances, are far afield from those that were originally imagined, perhaps leveraging different characteristics of the technology or different business models,” they write.
Proactive discovery can also convince internal decision makers that an opportunity is worth pursuing, and enhance the impact of a technological breakthrough by broadening the number of industries and markets it can influence.
Innovation
Innovation Executive Academy
In person at MIT Sloan
Register Now
‘This AI tool helped me define a target customer for my startup’
Learn how Spondi founder Jarret Heflin identified a highly motivated customer base by using the MIT Entrepreneurship JetPack digital adviser.
‘This AI tool helped me choose the right market for my startup’
Learn how the MIT Entrepreneurship JetPack digital adviser guided health tech startup Femmli through a detailed approach to market segmentation.
Generative AI shows effectiveness in aiding weight loss
Generative AI can help people lose weight, but it can’t replace the benefits of having a community of support, research from MIT Sloan shows.
Quantum computing reality check: What business needs to know now
Commercial quantum computing is now years, rather than decades, away. It’s time for business leaders to start tracking its evolution.
Why climate and energy entrepreneurs need their own playbook
Climate ventures are capital-intensive, take years to scale, and face unique hurdles. Standard advice doesn't always apply. MIT experts explain why these businesses need their own framework.
MIT Sloan reading list: 8 books from 2025
New books this year cover ecosystems, entrepreneurship, dynamic work design, and the paradox of meritocracy.
Who benefits from AI? New comic explores technology’s impact on labor
Download “Power and Progress: The Mini-Comic!” for free. A new comic book adapts MIT Nobel Prize-winning economists’ work on how AI affects workers and shared prosperity.
New MIT Sloan courses focus on deep learning, gen AI, and fintech
Additions to the MIT Sloan 2025 – 2026 course list include Intensive Hands-On Deep Learning, AI and Money, and The Arrhythmia of Finance.
Why innovators can’t afford to ignore geopolitics
Tariffs, sanctions, export controls, and industrial policies now shape how companies hire talent, build supply chains, and choose markets.
How entrepreneurs can navigate uncertain times
Five MIT entrepreneurs-in-residence share the strategies that separate successful startups from those that struggle when capital becomes scarce.