Converting an idea into a solution is more work than we think!
Sushrut Vaidya
Innovation leader in Europe | Strategist | Technologist | Lifelong Student | Doctoral Candidate | Bibliophile | Musicophile | Indophile
Innovation culture places a high premium on a great idea as an enabler for innovation. Popular culture is replete with the images of a genius innovator who comes up with one great idea after another. In truth, innovation is a systematic discipline that can be learned and practiced. In fact, as Peter Drucker pointed out, “An innovation program based on the hopes of producing some bright ideas is the riskiest.”
Why is it a systematic discipline? Because not all complexities on the ground can be anticipated and addressed in a lab. In fact, these complexities, and especially the non-technological ones, often get underestimated in the lab. As a result, the teams end up biting more than they can chew, though they are not aware of this problem. A lot of good innovative ideas have failed, and continue to fail, because this last-mile connectivity is not achieved.
While ideas are important, an idea is just a starting point for innovation. An idea becomes an innovation when it gets converted into a solution that solves a problem of someone other than the person who came up with the idea. So, a bright idea can indeed lead to an innovation, but they are not the same! A lot of work is required in between. Being able to do bridge this gap in a reliable, repeatable manner is the art of systematic innovation. ?
As a technologist myself I can say that we technologists are in love with technology. And there is nothing wrong with that. But often, this love makes us lose sight of the other aspects that determines the success of the innovation. These could include economic viability, user experience, talent availability, regulatory concerns, technology availability, stakeholders’ preference for certain technologies, cultural aspects, and so on. When looking at this big picture we realize that the idea and technology both account for only a small percentage of the final innovation. The success of innovation vastly depends on the other factors.
When evaluating an idea, and while iterating on a solution, it is important that each iteration is of the complete solution, including these other factors, and not only the core idea. The innovation programs will do well to make this thinking integral to their working.
AI Alchemist, Eliminating Care Delays & Inefficiencies in Home Healthcare, Growth Strategist Driving 3X+ Growth via Data-Driven Strategies, “PromptCraft Wizard” GPT, Generative AI,Ex-Infosys,Ex-TechM,Author,Storyteller
1 个月So true. I totally agree, the persistence, experimentation, iterations and the promising innovation culture pays off. Just like it happened yesterday, I remember at Infosys, my idea started with a simple text file processing code to an excel to a VB dot net UI to a SaaS finally(with patent filed/granted) to the launch & GTM motion.(Thanks to my managers for encouraging and believing Saji V S and the first deck prepared with Ravi SPM, taking dot net prototype ahead with Atul Gupta/ Samarth Shah Naveen Bakshi Prasad Joshi in iCETS you & a brilliant team indeed and of course brilliant a-star team building finished product Gunjan Diwan Biju B Jitty Joseph Prince Solomon Sarguru Doss Sobhan Banerjee Arnab Ray Amal Prakash) Would love to tag more people, who contributed and became the important piece of the puzzle:) This way I’d the firsthand experience of a full product life cycle at Infosys labs:) Heartfelt Gratitude ??