According to a study from futurethink, an innovation research firm, small companies and large companies are more effective at innovation than mid-sized companies.

Size plays a major role in how successful an organization’s innovation efforts.

“This is not a proverbial case of David versus Goliath, rather a case of David and Goliath,” emphasizes Lisa Bodell, chief executive officer of futurethink. “Our results demonstrate that actually it is both the largest (50,000-plus employees) and smallest (500 and under employees) organizations that are most effective when it comes to innovation.”

According to the survey, medium-sized (5,000-10,000 employees) organizations are “stuck in the middle” and are struggling with their innovation efforts.

The study points out that two very different approaches, when functioning in direct correlation to organizational size, positively impact innovation efforts.

“Typically, smaller organizations, those still exhibiting a more entrepreneurial bent, focus on generating ideas,” says Bodell. “In contrast, larger firms rely on a more formal style that centers on a process for innovation.”

New study unlocks the pattern of effective innovation.

I think that small companies are more innovative, because 1) if they aren’t they won’t be in business too much longer, and 2) they are small, fast, and attract more innovative employees.

Larger firms can create a process and they can afford to create a “protected” area within the company in which to hire innovative people and let them go.

Mid size companies are too large to be exceedingly fast, they attract fewer innovative people and more bureaucratic people, and they probably feel like they can’t afford the extra bandwidth to set aside an area to focus on innovation.