One of the things about data-driven innovation is that it relies on what came before it. The longer the legacy of a particular innovation path stretches, the more built-in history that is inherited to future generations. As legacy is baked in, it becomes harder and harder to deviate from the paths previously laid out.
When your future paths become fixed, innovation turns into evolution. It’s the iPhone problem. At this point, all new versions of the iPhone are evolutions of what came before and not truly something different. Innovation continues to occur but there are more and more features and things that cannot be changed. It’s unlikely that the iPhone line will ever truly deviate from the path laid out over the past 10 years.
It is true that there are no truly original ideas in this world. Any new innovation will have some history but that history is different than direct legacy.
You can restart the process by taking a product with a legacy and stripping it back to day 1. Often this means splitting the product into two paths – one with legacy and one with an entirely new team, direction, and goals. This isn’t as easy as it sounds as many features have a built-in legacy that can pop up unexpectedly. But the attempt can often yield surprising results.