OPEN MINDED. EDITION ONE: I IS FOR INNOVATION.

In this very first edition of Open-Minded, we shall investigate exactly what innovation is, why it is so intrinsic to our very human existence and why I personally feel so passionate about it.

Edition One: I is for Innovation.

I often feel as though the word ‘innovation’ is used far too frequently where it at times seems to be a ‘buzz word’ which companies and organisations use for no other reason than they think they should.

When beginning to pen this feature, I stumbled across a website by Dr Ken Hudson where several different theories and descriptions are given:

“Innovation is the creation of something that improves the way we live our lives”

Barack Obama.

"Innovation is?something fresh (new, original, or improved)?that creates value."

Jeff Dance.

“Innovation is any idea that adds value.”

Baxter Healthcare – Australia

“Innovation is significant positive change”.

Scott Berkun

“Innovation is change that creates a new dimension of performance.”

Peter Drucker.

“I define innovation as executing new ideas to create value.”

Tim Kastelle

“Innovation is the creation, development and implementation of a new product, process or service, with the aim of improving efficiency, effectiveness or competitive advantage.”

Government of New Zealand

“Innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas.”

UK Department of Innovation and Skills

“Innovation is the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization.”

Professor Teresa Amabile

Words such as 'create', 'new', 'value', 'creative' and 'ideas' are prominent within all these statements.

During Christmas 2020, I began writing the core values for my company, Flotec Industrial Limited .

?As an SME manufacturer supplying to both the rail sector as well as a vibrant mix of additional industries , I felt that innovation was an incredibly important vision and should form part of the organisational strategy. I developed the following statements:

?Innovation:

·???????To continuously investigate and find new ways of doing things for the better

·???????To develop, create and invent unique solutions relevant to the task in hand

·???????Where appropriate, to apply existing ways of doing things to a new market

·???????Where appropriate, to modify existing assets to perform better

·???????Where appropriate, to radically transform and disrupt markets for the better

These are words written in my unique style and when discussing this with a friend recently, she said that I would not have written these down and officialised them into the company strategy if I did not genuinely believe the statements to be true.

Readers who know me well will be aware that I first entered the rail sector in 2017 and feel passionate about everything it stands for and is attempting to achieve.

The UK Government actively encourages healthy competition in the sector because it agitates a desire to be innovative which gives the UK global competitive edge and adds value to the overall economy.

When thinking about Flotec’s rail endeavours , innovation is an important function and a critical success factor in increasing market share and financial performance.

Flotec’s engineering solution to its rail portfolio is very much a ‘push’ strategy which is to say, giving a market something new, unique, and bespoke as opposed to providing what has been done before or is being done elsewhere.

The objective being to deliver tangible benefits to enhance asset performance and increase efficiency gains.

Worth a read is Innovation in Motion | A Flotec Rail Story .

Flotec was accoladed for its innovative culture by receiving an Award for Innovation in Manufacturing and Engineering earlier this year.

Whilst I very often talk about rail, it is always a pleasure to surround myself with people from other industries, sectors, or professions to hear how they apply innovation within their work.

A ground rule within the peer group I am involved with through Innovate UK is to celebrate difference.

I am a big believer that diverse and inclusive teams act as a catalyst for creativity, inspiration, and innovation.

To my mind, innovation has always been intrinsic to human nature as it seems innate for us to explore new ways of doing things to advance us as a species.

Why is innovation so important to me? I think it is because of my creative background in art and design and a personal desire to express, create, design, learn and explore.

I go into detail in another LinkedIn article about what makes me the very human being that I am.

Innovation is a vast topic, where I recommend reading the Smart Marketing Book by Dan White which covers the subject matter quite nicely.