I.n.N.o.V.a.T.i.O.n.
Innovation and revolutionary ideas are some topics that interest the human nature and push to it create something bigger and better with every try. But what is exactly innovation and how can we achieve to be as creative and innovative as possible?
What is innovation? Science of Innovation
Innovation is a concept that exists for years now. No matter if we talk about Thomas Edison with the creation of the electric lamp or Michael Jackson with his methods of antigravity illusion, innovation is something that follows humans since the beginning.
Innovation is a process, a series of steps that begins with imagination in order to create something valuable for the society. It is an improvement upon the knowledge we already have as humans and the information already exists from past research. It is also a vision that needs creativity to be born. The motive to create something innovative is the simple desire of solving a problem or need existing in our world. It doesn’t mean that in order to create something new someone has to do it from scratch. Sometimes just a different combination of already existing things can help solve the problem.
Of course a new beginning requires financial support but also needs vision, persistence and involvement of different people. Team work is very important as well. The same topic can be seen through different perspectives and angles only if different people that work together have access on it. That’s why it is important for anyone trying to solve a problem or a need to get actively involved with it.
So innovation is what helps us imagine, invent, improve and inspire others while giving back to the world.
What is innovation — Varieties of Innovation
Innovation generates value for the world. According to Bill Aulet of the MIT, Innovation is basically an equation.
Innovation = Invention * Commercialization
Invention is every idea or technology, but all alone it cannot generate value, which would be equal with innovation. Invention needs the commercialization factor, which is actually the difficult goal to achieve. They are multiplied, because if one of these factors does not exist, there can be no innovation. There has to be a new idea, but commercialized for real people in the real world.
He also distinguishes different types and categories of innovation. Some of the types are Technology, Process, Business Model, Positioning and many others that depend on the company. On the other hand, he introduces 3 different categories of innovation: Disruptive, especially if the company is new in the market, Incremental, referring to already established companies that have to add new things to their policy, and Lateral/General, with which a company adopts an innovation they saw somewhere else. In this case, the difficulty lies in that every type of innovation has to be in accord with all the 3 categories simultaneously. If not, there will be missing parts, preventing it from being successful.
The art of innovation | Guy Kawasaki | TEDxBerkeley
Guy Kawasaki introduced the audience to the “art of innovation”, as he calls it with a top 10 format.
Number one on his list is to make meaning instead of making money. When you try to change the world the money will probably follow. Next one is to make a mantra, a 2–3 words phrase that describes exactly who you are and why you should exist. Then when trying to be innovative you should always jump to the next curve, meaning that you should be ready to take your product to the next level in order to stand out. Roll the dice is his next tip. Any great product needs to be deep, intelligent, complete, empowering and elegant. Number 5 is to don’t worry, be crappy. Elements of crappiness are fine when creating something revolutionary. Then let 100 flowers blossom. Customers are the ones that are going to decide what your product finally is and you will be probably surprised by the ways they use it. Polarizing people is the next step. Some are going to love what you’ve created but some are going to hate it, and that’s fine. Following up, “churn baby, churn” you need to constantly update and evolve your product. Then niche yourself. What you creating in order to be innovative needs to be as unique and as valuable as possible. Number 10 is to perfect your pitch. In order to get the attention from the beginning customize your introduction. Follow the 10–20–30 rule (10 slides- 20 minutes- 30 size of font). Lastly don’t let the bozos grind you down, know your competitors.
