At Autodesk, we view technologies using Three Horizons that is a model for concurrently managing growth investments across three time-horizons. The purpose of the model is explicitly to manage a pipeline of business growth opportunities from inception to maturity. The Three Horizons Model is a classic strategy framework developed by three McKinsey consultants — Mehrdad Baghai, Stephen Coley, and David White in 1999.
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Horizon 1 is at the heart of any organization. It contains mature businesses that generate the lion’s share of the company profitability and cash flow. They often have some growth potential left that can be served by incremental innovation. Managing Horizon 1 is primarily about efficiency. Horizon 1 generates the resources (and sometimes the skills) to fund Horizons 2 and 3. Ultimately the goal of Horizon 2 and 3 businesses is to move them into Horizon 1.
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Horizon 2 is where new businesses and streams of revenue are developed. These are…