Platforms and Stacking
The most powerful innovations build on existing platforms, creating layered stacks that enable subsequent generations of builders
Johnson argues that the most generative innovations function as platforms that enable subsequent layers of innovation to be stacked on top of them. Like coral reefs that create an ecosystem supporting thousands of species, platforms create fertile environments where other innovators can build without having to solve already-solved problems.
The Web is the most conspicuous example of platform stacking. Tim Berners-Lee built the Web on top of the open protocols of the Internet, which had already solved the problem of computer-to-computer communication. He created HTML based on an existing platform called SGML developed at IBM in the 1960s. Fourteen years later, when the founders of YouTube created their service, they stitched together elements from three platforms: the Web, Adobe's Flash for video playback, and JavaScript for embedding clips. Three people built YouTube in six months because they could stack on top of existing platforms. By contrast, HDTV took an army of expert committees twenty years because they tried to build a new platform from scratch.
Culture relies on stacked platforms too. Scientific paradigms function as platforms that support new fields above them. Darwin's theory of natural selection became a platform on which population genetics, molecular genetics, evolutionary psychology, and developmental biology were all stacked over the following century and a half.
The practical implication is that innovators should look for existing platforms to build upon rather than trying to create everything from the ground up. The most impactful contribution is often not a finished product but a new platform that enables others to build things the original creator never imagined. Coral reefs, beaver dams, and the World Wide Web all follow this pattern: organisms or innovators that build structures enabling entire ecosystems of subsequent creation.
- The most generative innovations function as platforms that enable subsequent layers of innovation to be stacked on top of them
- Building on existing platforms dramatically accelerates innovation by eliminating the need to solve already-solved problems
- Platform stacking is a compounding process: each new layer enables further layers that were previously impossible
- Open platforms generate more innovation than closed ones because they allow anyone to build on top of them
- The most impactful contribution is often not a finished product but a new platform that enables others to build things the creator never imagined
- Both natural ecosystems and technological ecosystems follow the same stacking pattern: foundational structures enable entire ecosystems of subsequent creation
- 1. Identify Existing Platforms to Build UponBefore starting any innovation project, survey the landscape for existing platforms, protocols, frameworks, and solved problems that you can leverage. The question is not what you need to build from scratch but what you can stack on top of.Pro tipBerners-Lee did not have to invent computer networking to create the Web. He built on top of decades of existing Internet infrastructure. Always look for the highest layer of existing platform that is relevant to your problem.WarningBuilding from scratch when suitable platforms already exist is one of the most common and costly mistakes in innovation. It wastes time and resources solving problems that have already been solved.
- 2. Stitch Together Multiple PlatformsThe most innovative products often combine elements from several existing platforms in novel ways. Look for opportunities to connect platforms from different domains into a new configuration that creates emergent value.Pro tipYouTube's founders combined the Web, Flash video, and JavaScript from three different technology stacks into a single service that none of those platforms could have produced alone.WarningPlatform dependencies create risks. Ensure you understand the stability and openness of each platform you build upon, as changes to an underlying platform can break everything stacked above it.
- 3. Design Your Innovation as a Platform for OthersWhen building something new, consider whether it can be designed as an open platform that others can build upon. The most enduring innovations are those that create an ecosystem of subsequent innovation rather than standing as isolated products.Pro tipDarwin's theory of natural selection is the quintessential intellectual platform. It was not the endpoint of biological science but the foundation on which a century and a half of new fields were stacked.WarningNot every innovation needs to be a platform. But if you can design yours to be extensible and open, its long-term impact will be dramatically greater.
- 4. Contribute Back to the StackShare your innovations, publish your findings, open-source your tools, and contribute to the platforms you built upon. The stacking dynamic accelerates when each builder adds back to the common infrastructure.Pro tipThe open-source software movement is the most powerful modern example of platform stacking in action. Each contributor builds on existing open tools and contributes new tools that enable further building.WarningHoarding innovations behind closed walls reduces the compounding effect of stacking and limits the ecosystem that could grow from your contribution.
Johnson developed the platforms concept by examining why some innovations are disproportionately generative, spawning entire ecosystems of subsequent innovation. He drew parallels between biological platforms like coral reefs and beaver dams, which transform environments in ways that support thousands of other species, and technological platforms like the Internet and the Web, which enabled vast numbers of subsequent innovations. The contrast between YouTube's six-month development atop existing platforms and HDTV's twenty-year creation from scratch crystallized the principle.