Innovation Tech Series – Episode 7

This is the continuation of the Innovation Tech Series. I strongly recommend referring to the links below for previous episodes of the series where you will find Inspiring stories from prolific IBM Inventors.

Episode 1-?https://www.dhirubhai.net/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6915925882519851008/

Episode 2 -?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/innovation-tech-series-episode-2-sarbajit-k-rakshit/?????????????

Episode 3 -?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/start-innovation-tech-series-episode-3-siddharth-saraya/???

Episode 4 -?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/innovation-tech-series-episode-4-mukundan-sundararajan/???????????????

Episode 5 -?https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/innovation-tech-series-episode-5-kiran-nayak-1c/

Episode 6 - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/innovation-tech-series-episode-6-siddhartha-sood/

In this episode, I will share my journey and break some of the misconceptions I held at the beginning of my Innovation journey

I joined IBM out of college in 2003 as an “Entry Level Training Programmer”. During my initial years, I learned about IBM’s rich history in Innovation and patent leadership and its contribution to science and technology and the world at large. This inspired me and I wanted to be known as an inventor and I dreamt of having just one patent in my career.

As I embarked on finding this one idea, I overcame common misconceptions that many aspiring inventors run into

a)?????The most common misconception is that you need be an expert in the area to develop new ideas. ?Many Innovations today focus on the convergence of different technological areas like AI and Hybrid Cloud, Quantum computing and Cyber Security, AI and Edge computing, etc. While some knowledge of these areas is helpful, you do not need to be an expert to invent.

The important thing is to understand the problems in these areas and the existing solutions to the problems, researching the existing solutions to a problem is critical and forms a major part of your innovation journey.

You do not set aside time for Innovating, Innovation is a culture and if you stay curious and are constantly looking for ways to improve your personal or professional lives, you are already innovating.

b)?????The second misconception I had at the beginning of this journey was I need to have a working prototype/code/product to Patent. To patent, you need a clear and detailed set of instructions that can be followed by an expert to arrive at the desired outcome.

?c)??????You need to work at the idea alone is another misconception that was busted almost immediately when I expressed the desire to patent to one of my mentors. Working in teams allows you to leverage the diverse skills and experiences of all the team members. ?Working in teams will help see the ideas from a different perspective aided with critical and constructive feedback.

?d)?????You need to develop a grand idea that solves an industry use case is another misconception I had during the initial days of my journey. Innovation is rarely about grand ideas, any idea big or small is eligible for innovation. You simply need to persist with the idea and continue looking for novel ways to solve a problem. One of my recent experiences is an idea that I did not fully believe in the beginning, but it turned out to be the fastest grant I ever received. This experience humbled me, and I share this experience with aspiring Inventors that there are multiple ways to solve a problem and even if a problem appears solved, you can continue to look for ways to improve it.

Having the desire to have just one patent helped me kickstart my Innovation Journey. The Innovation culture at IBM and many Master and fellow senior inventors have guided me every step of the way.

Albert Einstein is noted to have famously said “I have no special talent; I am passionately curious”

I hope this episode helped in breaking those barriers preventing you to kick start your innovation journey. Never stop learning and Happy Inventing.

If you want to join the Innovation journey, join us at #IBM with an email at [email protected]

The next post in this series will be a story of another prolific master inventor. I am excited to hear the next story. If you are interested in #innovation, #invention, #patents, #letscreate2succeed, #teamHCM, #manage2succeed; #ibmconsulting #ibm follow the series for more.