What do you do if your career growth in the drone industry depends on embracing continuous innovation?

Learn, learn, learn. To introduce innovations in drone industry, you need to be or become expert in some specific application area (not a drone-related) - it can be surveying&mapping, mining, or UXO clearance. "Drone" innovations are absolutly useless itself - they are useful if they can improve efficience or safety of everyday works of guys in the field, which are not related to "drone industry" at the moment.

In the drone industry, embracing continuous innovation is vital for your career growth. You must stay updated on the latest technologies and trends to succeed. Engaging in courses and workshops can help you enhance your skills and knowledge. Collaboration with colleagues and networking with industry professionals can also contribute to your success. Keep a curious and open mindset to adapt to the ever-evolving industry landscape.

As the drone business changes quickly, it's important to stay up to date and keep learning in order to move up in your career. It's important to constantly look for ways to learn new things, like through workshops, online courses, and industry conferences. By staying up to date on the latest rules, software updates, and technological advances, you not only improve your skills but also show that you are an expert in your area. Your dedication to learning and growing will not only help your job, but it will also make you an important part of any team.

It is absolutely impossible to create innovative solutions in a vacuum. They should reflect the needs of potential users, the current state of technology, and knowledge of specific applications and industries. There's too much to have it all in one brain. So networking is key, from testing a bare idea, even investing in R&D, and finding pilot users/gathering feedback when the first MVP (minimum viable product) comes out. Many of my ideas were destroyed at the first stage - when I came to my network and no one was interested. At least it saved a lot of time (for me) and money (for my investors).

Undoubtedly, networking has a crucial role in fostering innovation, especially in an area as specialized and rapidly developing as drone technology. Making relationships with peers, mentors, and business executives opens doors to a plethora of information and opportunities that can greatly advance your career. Taking part in online forums, working on projects together, and attending drone meetings are all great ways to get involved in the community. These contacts put you in a position to actively contribute to the expansion of the sector while also keeping you informed about the most recent developments and trends in technology.

Half of my ideas are complete garbage. They may fail due to technical obstacles, be too complex to implement, too complex for users, or simply not economically feasible or provide any real benefit to users. Experiment as often as possible and test your ideas as quickly as possible in the cheapest way possible. Not a day without experiments and failures - this approach will allow you to discard everything that does not work or is useless and progress quickly. Another important point is that experiments should cover more than just technical aspects. So it's important to find a way to experiment with the real world before sometimes investing millions into something that isn't viable.

Yes, in the world of drone technology, having practical experience is essential. Engaging in active experimentation with different drone models and software not only enhances your comprehension of the technology but also uncovers how novel functionalities might be incorporated into real-world uses. Keep in mind that each attempt and mistake is a progression towards expertise. Mistakes are priceless opportunities for acquiring knowledge that facilitate the development of new ideas. Welcome and appreciate these experiences, as they cultivate ingenuity and the ability to solve problems, which are crucial for progressing in the drone sector.

When I working on something new, I prefer to disclose as much information as possible - posting reports from the very first field experiments, examples of data, outcomes, etc. That allows to check that we are still in line with potential users, gather early feedback, sometimes get suggestions. Nobody will spend his time on you to help you with your business - if there is no mutual benefits. Share everything that you can - and you will be surprised how valuable feedback you will have. That allows to correct your way at the early stages, improve implementation - or stop your idea implementation if you will found that it become useless in it's current or achievable form.

The most dangerous thing if your business depends on innovation is rigidity. You may fail at any moment, environment may change, world is becoming crazy - all this may make your yesterday bright ideas absolutly useless today. For every thing or plan you should have not only plan "A", but also B, C, D - and generate and try these options constantly. It is what I learned in my polar and other expeditions - if you have only plan A - you are idiot (sorry for wording). If you have plan B as well - ok, you are optimist. Having plans C, D, ... - you may reach success.

Do not get into analysis-paralysis. Better make a decision half way ready, but with a plenty time left to adjust or drop the decision. Plans fail often and it's better to plan for them to fail than waste time and energy in planning phase hoping to find perfect or even good enough options. Jump into MVP or Experimental Phase as soon as possible.

In a sector that involve quickly, it is important to keep your financial assets agile. In consequence, renting instead of buying payloads. It is the way to stay ahead with providing the best technology.