Moving from Fuzzy to Feasible™: Phase 4 – Value Capture
- Matt Arnold
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
This is the fourth post in a series to provide more context around Spark's Fuzzy to Feasible™ framework. As George Box said, "all models are wrong, some are useful." I hope these posts can help you address complexity and improve innovation outcomes in your organization.
After designing offerings that customers find desirable, the next essential step is Value Capture — ensuring that delivering value to others also strengthens your organization.
The Fuzzy to Feasible™ framework is a practical guide to turning uncertainty into action, and at this phase, it reminds us that solving real problems isn't enough.
Without capturing value, even the best ideas simply remain inventions.
To fuel growth, impact, and resilience, organizations must structure how they benefit from the value they create — intentionally, early, and strategically.
What is Value Capture?
Value Capture is the process of securing a portion of the value you create for customers in a way that sustains and grows your organization.
It’s the shift from asking:
"What’s valuable to the customer?" to asking: "How does delivering that value also strengthen us?"
Done well, Value Capture turns customer success into organizational success — through revenue, loyalty, brand equity, market share, or other strategic returns.
Value creation brings customers to you. Value capture ensures they stay — and that your organization thrives alongside them.
Frameworks like the Business Model Canvas help organizations map how value flows. The early stages of the Ten Types of Innovation — including Profit Model, Network, Structure, and Process — show that innovation isn’t just about products or services. Often, the real breakthrough lies in how the business itself is configured to capture value differently.
Why Value Capture Matters
When organizations skip or underinvest in Value Capture, risks multiply:
Running Out of Resources:Even beloved innovations falter if they lack sustainable revenue models.
Being Commoditized:Without defensible capture mechanisms, competitors can easily copy innovations and undercut pricing.
Underpricing or Mispricing:Teams may charge too little or choose the wrong model (e.g., one-time sales vs. recurring revenue) — leading to underperformance despite strong adoption.
Misalignment with Business Goals:Innovation that delights users but doesn’t advance strategic objectives can become costly "orphans."
Delayed or Reactive Thinking:If capture mechanisms are bolted on after launch, they often feel clumsy, confuse customers, or arrive too late to beat competitors.
Bottom line:
Innovation without value capture is charity, not strategy.
If teams don't plan how they will benefit alongside their customers, they risk losing momentum, mission, and impact.
Common Misconceptions About Value Capture
"If we create enough value, capture will take care of itself." Reality: Without intentional capture strategies, much of the value you create can leak away — to competitors, customers, or partners.
"Value capture just means making money."Reality: Money is one way to capture value, but so are customer loyalty, network effects, brand equity, and strategic market positioning.
"We can figure out value capture later, after success."Reality: Waiting leads to clumsy, bolt-on capture mechanisms. Early consideration integrates capture into the product and customer journey naturally.
"Value capture conflicts with customer-centricity."Reality: Healthy value capture aligns company success with customer success. Both sides benefit when value is exchanged thoughtfully.
"There’s only one way to capture value."Reality: Many models exist — subscriptions, licensing, bundling, platform ecosystems — and choosing wisely is key to innovation strategy.
Value Capture and the Human Side of Innovation
Today’s innovation ecosystems are increasingly complex, shaped by human networks, globalization, and fast-moving technological forces. Sustained value capture depends on more than good strategy — it depends on building trust, alignment, and adaptability.
Teams must collaborate across silos, align incentives, and avoid the "antibodies effect" — where organizational culture resists or undermines new innovations that don't fit old models.
As thought leaders like Ed Morrison and Paidi O'Reilly remind us, Strategic Doing and effectual innovation are required in complex environments. We can't just graft new ideas onto old structures — we must design pathways for innovation to survive and thrive.
Healthy value capture honors the human side:
It builds incentives that sustain collaboration.
It respects customer relationships.
It makes scaling innovation possible without sacrificing trust or mission.
A First Step: Reflection
If you want to strengthen your approach to Value Capture, start with this small but powerful action:
Explicitly map how and when your organization benefits from creating value for the customer — and check if it’s built into the design, not assumed afterward.
In practice:
Take one product, feature, or initiative you’re working on. Write a simple two-part sentence:
“The customer wins when ___.”
“We win when ___.”
If you can’t clearly fill in both blanks — or if they don’t feel naturally connected — you likely have a value capture gap.
If you’d like help shaping innovation strategies that create and capture value — and turn insight into lasting impact — let's connect.
Moving from Fuzzy to Feasible™ means building innovation that's not only inspiring — but enduring.
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