Do you innovate?

Talent is a universal gift, but it takes a lot of courage to use it. Don’t be afraid to be the best - Paulo Coelho in 'The Winner Stands Alone'

Innovation simply means something that has not been tried earlier or was not thought about earlier by any one. We can categorize it broadly into two different kinds: disruptive (the one that changes the whole industry or creates an entirely new industry) and incremental (the one that augments the functioning of an existing product or process or service). An innovation is something that gives you a new or enhanced experience as well as saves your money or effort or time or all three of them in some proportion. I have been fortunate to experiment with innovation at work with different teams in different domains. And mind you, it does not require you to be an Einstein or Edison to be an innovator. You just need a few qualities to be an innovator, but more so, you need consistency and a firm belief in your own self about practicability of the goal.

Do you question the obvious?

The foremost quality of an innovator is that she does not accept the obvious. She questions it and tries to get answers for things that seem so obvious to millions of people. A curious child's questions are the most interesting ones because she does not have any assumptions in her mind. Once you remove the assumptions from your mind, you can start questioning the obvious. I find the Toyota's quality principles very inspiring in this respect: asking why five times to get to the root of any issue. So when your seniors or peers in the organization tell you something that they think is so obvious, do not accept it till the time you know why is it so. Otherwise make it a habit to ask, even if you look like a fool. I do that frequently in my workplace, I even ask a fresher in the organization to tell me why is it so, when someone tells me that this is how it is and it has to be taken this way only! So make it a habit of asking questions and lots of them. Do not be afraid of who will say what. The world has never grown due to those looking at you with contempt, but due to those who looked at everything with curiosity. In one of the healthcare projects, when I asked one question to the team on how to reduce the time to collect customer's requirements, we found out new ways to do the product fitment in hospitals and reduced the time to implement the solution by 40%. Asking that one question made the difference!

Do you keep your eyes and ears open?

Do you observe people and their nature? Do you observe places? Do you observe processes? Do you observe the nature of interactions you have with people? Do you try to give an ear to things people complain about? Do you look for an opportunity in the problem? Do you face the problems head-on and try to solve them? Do you listen to customer complaints? If the answer is yes to even some of these questions, you can become the agent to change the way things are at your organization.

When you keep your senses open to what is happening around you, you gain insights into working of more and more things of this world. Also this gives you an opportunity to observe how a problem is being solved in one domain, and you can apply the same principles to solve the problem of some other domain that people may not be even thinking about.

Do you strive to get answers from anyone and everyone?

Once you notice something and you have a question, do you strive to get the answer by all means? Do you discuss the question with different set of people or not? Do you keep looking for an answer till the time you get an answer? Does the question keep revolving in your mind? Sometimes even an utterance from someone totally unconnected with the question opens your mind to the solution of the problem! Sometimes even reading a totally different and unrelated book reveals the solution to you. Does it happen with you? If yes, you can innovate. I applied the simple principle of shock wave propagation to one of my innovative designs for missile storage simulation this way, and it was a huge success. The customer had been struggling with the problem for past many years. As Dorie Clark says in How to think like an innovator, when you only look for inspiration within your own field, it’s hard to see the full range of possibilities. Mixing insights from multiple professions, or from other aspects of your life, enables you to step outside the conventions of your industry.

Do you muster courage to do something different?

Once you have found the solution, do you muster courage to tell the world that you have the answer to the problem? Do you want to play safe with your peers or seniors or put up your suggestions irrespective of knowing who could be your detractors in the meeting, questioning you and pulling you down? Do you do your homework to present the solution to the team? Do you go against all odds to present the innovation, once you are convinced of its effectiveness? Do you have the willingness to take risks, and to support risk taking in others? On one question from my CEO where I used to work earlier, my team took up the challenge to change a critical component in all the software products of our company within tight timelines, and it saved half a million dollars license fee every year. So if you are ready to take risks, you are an innovator. Innovators do not think about who will say what and who will get what, they just focus on the solution, put it down on paper, brainstorm it with others and try to convince others as much as they can, and present it to the world. The world may listen or not, they do not care! If the world listens, good for it; otherwise they keep working on the solution inspite of the world.

Do you go the extra mile?

It's not always what you do, but who you are. Be the person that goes the extra mile. - John C Maxwell

Do you do your work in an excellent manner? Do you go the extra mile to make the customer happy? Do you work in a manner that the issues you once faced while doing your job, are solved before doing it the next time. Do you see your skills, experiences, or aspects of your background that are different from others as your strength rather than weakness? If yes, that gives you power to see and open up new perspectives.

As an innovator, you’re playing a different game. You may or may not be systematic in your approach. But the zeal of solving problem gets you going in your work.

If you have these qualities, you are an innovator already! What has been your experience? I would love to hear more on how you can become an innovator at work!

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