Never Let Innovation Become Normal

We’re an innovative company. You hear that phrase everywhere these days – in advertising, at trade shows, in corporate literature and even listening into conversations in coffee shops. It is a badge of honor for the early 21st century, but, as with all popular assertions, the word itself is being devalued in its misuse by the underwhelming majority. 

Innovation doesn’t simply mean doing something differently – it means doing something completely new. Yes, completely new. One company may have a “new” method of running a meeting standing up, but hundreds of other companies have been doing that for years. This isn’t innovation; this is iteration.

Doing something differently to the way you have done it before is part of the natural cycle of life – we change with the times, but you cannot call this innovation. It is simply what needs to happen for you or your company to keep your heads above the water. Life is changing at a breakneck speed, and if you too don’t change you will be left behind. There is nothing particularly impressive about this; it is just the way that things have always been. 

So, for all the leaders out there who ask their staff what innovative things they have done this week, please, I implore you, don’t make “innovation” as common as filling in your expense forms or compiling your Monday morning performance report. In my humble opinion, innovation should be a “wow, no way, I can’t believe you did that” type of feeling. It shouldn’t be expected, it shouldn’t be measured - it is simply something to strive towards, to work hard towards, something to believe in.

In a similar vein, the “innovative” start-up culture that has sprung up over the past few years has the same obsession with “innovation.” There are only so many ways that you can build an app, which hooks you up with nearby drivers. The first big movers in the market were the true innovators, but the subsequent competitors cannot truly call themselves innovative. Someone has been there and done it before them – they are simply building on someone’s idea. 

Innovation is about striving towards your idea - for yourself, for your team or for your company. It is that unique and indelible mark that you will one day make on this life – a mark that will affect others in a way that they have never been affected before. We all have the chance to make this mark, but too many of us settle for second best when the going gets tough. We tell ourselves that we are being “innovative” in the little things in life, but actually when it comes to true innovation, too few of us keep the fire burning within us for long enough to make that difference. 

Don’t get me wrong, continuously striving to get better is a noble and very necessary pursuit. Life is sometimes so tough that many of us see merely standing still as a decent result, but every now and again we should all give ourselves a chance to dream, and chance to believe in something, in that far away but ultimately obtainable goal: to become an Innovator.