What exactly is "Innovation"?
Andee Chua ?????
LinkedIn Top Voice | Community Builder | Culture and DI&B Program Manager at HubSpot | Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging | LGBTQ+ Advocate | Employee Experience | ENFJ-A???
Try asking innovation leaders what innovation really means. You'll probably get pretty diverse answers, but I'm not surprised. Some people tend to not want to define it too clearly; they say, "you'll know it when you see it."
This has been a question that’s bothering me for the longest time and I've decided to put things into perspectives. Whatever that is coming below is purely my thought-process analyzing this question.
1. Innovation is to create something NEW in the industry that adds more value to the users.
If it is new but it doesn't add higher value to the current alternatives, it's not going to be an innovation. It will remain an invention. If it is changing the existing organization processes, or coming up with a new website, that's improvements - evolutionary, not revolutionary.
2. But Innovation is not just about ideas and light bulbs.
It begins with the “a-ha” moment but a great idea by itself is worthless unless something is done with it. It’s a lot of hard work - development, implementation, understanding market and customers behavior, pivoting, and many more.
3. Innovation is not just techy stuff or product related.
Well, there are more non-technological innovations out there. Starbucks is innovative, for sure. They are a coffee shop that doesn’t just sell coffee and food, but the experience they offer. Innovation is not all about robots or flying cars, like what the mainstream media are telling us.
4. An Innovation Lab is not just a beautifully designed & open environment.
It’s not a space where you go “oh wow, that’s so cool and I wish to work in there”. An Innovation Lab is only innovative largely based on what happens in it.
5. Innovation requires a radically different mindset.
Call it creativity, thinking out of the box, or breaking traditions. It's also about creating a new category for what you are doing, isn't it? Not everyone has innovative abilities, but it’s something that could be developed?
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What about you? What is "innovation" to you?
Let’s start a conversation!
Technical Review and Contracts Management
5 年I agree 100% with your assessment. To me innovation comes from asking how we can do something faster, easier, better than we are currently doing it. It is why more often than not it comes from the employees doing the work rather than upper management. If you’re a company struggling to innovate, sit down with your employees and ask the simple question “How can we make your job easier”.
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5 年I love the 5 things you mentioned, especially the part about value and the fact that it doesn't have to be tech. Too many people think that innovation has to be something to do with AI or tech, but it can be something super simple. Look forward to your future articles!