This study investigates how strategic leaders who anticipate a technological, radical innovation in their industry shape the evolution of this idea through their use of frames to guide their decisions. My research design is an in-depth, longitudinal case study of a Norwegian construction company whose strategic leaders intended to realize the idea of a “fully digital construction process,” harnessing the potential of big data. I develop a process model that reveals how strategic leaders' framing-induced idea erosion unfolds over time. I explain the activities understanding data-driven technologies, organizing idea elaboration processes, and building of technological knowledge, all contributing to their framing of lack of progress in their endeavor. As strategic leaders frame these activities as failures to act, elaborate on ideas, and foster collaboration, the idea erodes. This erosion leads to a pivot from aiming to implement to prepare for an anticipatory radical innovation. Drawing from existing literature, I elucidate that failure framing can be attributed to their limited experience in leveraging setbacks as learning opportunities and working iteratively during the idea journey. This research offers a process perspective on strategic leader social cognition during the trajectory of an idea about a radical innovation.
