What do we mean by "innovation"?This is a featured page

Fortunately (or unfortunately for some) there are plenty of definitions for innovation.

Wikipedia references the following:
The classic definitions of innovation include:
  1. the act of introducing something new: something newly introduced (The American Heritage Dictionary).
  2. the introduction of something new. (Merriam-Webster Online)
  3. a new idea, method or device. (Merriam-Webster Online)
  4. the successful exploitation of new ideas (Department of Trade and Industry, UK).
  5. change that creates a new dimension of performance Peter Drucker (Hesselbein, 2002)
  6. the process of making improvements by introducing something new

The outcome of innovation is a process or product that creates additional value for the customer. It may be through enhancement or addition to an existing product or service. It may represent a modification that provides additional or new benefit.

But the outcome will always be far less interesting than the input. To define how innovation works, the process of innovation, is the prize. If we can get that right, organisations can follow a route map or a plan to become "innovative".

The complexity in the definition of the process lies in its multiple facets. It is as much (if not more) about thinking and attitude as it is about organisation and structure.

Peter Drucker defined seven sources of innovation:

  1. The Unexpected - An unexpected success, an unexpected failure or an unexpected outside event can be a symptom of a unique opportunity.
  2. The Incongruity - A discrepancy between reality and what everyone assumes it to be, or between what is and what ought to be, can create an innovative opportunity.
  3. Innovation based on process need - When a weak link is evident in a particular process, but people work around it instead of doing something about it, an opportunity is present to the person or company willing to supply the “missing link”.
  4. Changes in industry or market structure - The opportunity for an innovative product, service or business approach occurs when the underlying foundation of the industry or market shifts.
  5. Demographics - Changes in the population’s size, age structure, composition, employment, level of education and income can create innovative opportunities.
  6. Changes in perception, mood and meaning - Innovative opportunities can develop when a society’s general assumptions, attitudes and beliefs change.
  7. New Knowledge - Advances in scientific and nonscientific knowledge can create new products and new markets.
Drucker, Peter F. Innovative and Entrepreneurship, Practice and Principles. Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. 1985.

Implicit in each one of these sources is a set of knowledge requirements that include the following:

  • A deep understanding of customer requirements
  • The ability to observe and analyse the present state objectively
  • An attitude of openness to new ideas
  • A personal confidence that allows experimentation
  • Sensitivity to impending changes
  • A natural inclination towards creativity
  • An intellectual toolkit for managing creative thinking
  • A set of strategies for objectively assessing hypotheses in a structured manner



FrankNigriello
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FrankNigriello Three Simple Steps to Creating Truly Innovative Products 1 May 12 2008, 4:59 AM EDT by RobMcKay
Thread started: Apr 27 2008, 7:02 AM EDT  Watch
Using a straightforward approach and copious examples, the author explains how focusing on three key questions can help your team to develop breakthrough product ideas that while customers.
The first question to ask yourself is, "What is the (existing) product really used for?" This question helps you to look beyond superficial functional attributes of the existing product, and to focus on the tasks that the customer needs to perform and on identifying their pain points. This can only be discovered through observation, not market research or focus groups.
Question number two asks, "When I know what task the product is really used for, are there any steps that I can remove from the task?” This step is all about dissecting the task into its component steps, and creatively looking for ways to simplify what the customer needs to accomplish.
Question three asks, "What tasks are the very next tasks that the customer will want to perform after using my product?" This question prompts the innovator to look at the entire ecosystem within which the product is used, contiguous tasks (tasks that follow one another in a process), new business models and opportunities for service innovation.
This is a refreshing book which focuses on the wealth of opportunities for transforming your company's product offerings. It includes numerous examples that illustrate the Hauptly’s points and demonstrate that it really is possible to “wow” your customers - if you only take off your blinders and asked the right questions.

Dennis Hauptly’s Something Really New: Three Simple Steps to Creating Truly Innovative Products.
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FrankNigriello Gary Hamel: Leading Revolution 0 Apr 27 2008, 7:00 AM EDT by FrankNigriello
Thread started: Apr 27 2008, 7:00 AM EDT  Watch
Obviously, you can't teach someone to be an innovator unless you know where game-changing ideas come from. In other words, you need a theory of innovation -- like Ben Hogan's theory of the golf swing. This is why, a few years back, I and several colleagues analyzed more than a hundred cases of business innovation. Our goal: to understand why some individuals, at certain points in time, are able to see opportunities that are invisible to everyone else. Here, in a pistachio-sized shell, is what we learned. Successful innovators have ways of seeing the world that throw new opportunities into sharp relief. They have developed, usually by accident, a set of perceptual "lenses" that allow them to pierce the fog of "what is" in order to see the promise of "what could be." How? By paying close attention to four things that usually go unnoticed:"
"1. Unchallenged orthodoxies -- the widely held industry beliefs that blind incumbents to new opportunities.
2. Underleveraged competencies -- the "invisible" assets and competencies, locked up in moribund businesses, that can be repurposed as new growth platforms.
3. Underappreciated trends -- the nascent discontinunities that can be harnessed to reinvigorate old business models and create new ones."
4. Unarticulated needs -- the frustrations and inconveniences that customers take for granted, and industry stalwarts have thus far failed to address."

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