What is innovation?
With these few words Oxford dictionary captures the meaning of this word. So yes, innovation is the process of creating something new. But what does it stand for? What does it take to be innovative?
To begin with innovation is no child’s play. It is not necessarily a talent nor is it a qualification you can acquire through a university degree. It takes an eager mind, a constant desire to find out what is missing from the world and an unquenchable thirst to come up with new ideas. It is merely a way of life since you choose to observe the world from a totally different perspective.
To better understand the meaning of innovation, its purpose and its ways, we were encouraged to watch a lecture regarding the subject by our professors at the AD&PR Lab and then to look for two other inspirational videos. The first one was the “Art of Innovation”, a TEDx talk by Guy Kawasaki.
In this talk Guy Kawasaki, a marketing specialist and one of the original Apple’s employees responsible for launching their Macintosh computer line in 1984, provides the audience with the ten tips anyone needs when they desire to be innovative. This is an invaluable lecture where Mr Kawasaki succeeds in defining the term by simplifying it. In a few words he shares with the audience the most important things we need to have in mind when trying to come up with fresh ideas. In other words when we wish to be innovative we should:
- desire to make meaning and not money,
- make a mantra (2–3 words) about our reason of existence,
- jumb any curves ahead and never lose our perspective,
- roll the dice and attempt to create something intelligent, complete and elegant,
- not worry and be crappy since you need to fail in order to succeed,
- let a hundred flowers blossom,
- not fear to polarize people,
- change and evolve our product,
- inform the world of the uniqueness of our product,
- perfect our pitch and
- not let the bozos bring us down.
Following this enlightening speech, we looked for different lectures adding to these useful tips. As a result we found “What is Innovation?”, another TEDx talk this time given by Tina Zita.
This talk further supported the things that the previous lecture taught us and added some new perspective to the vast and complex field of innovation. What is more, Mrs Zita talked about the journey of innovation, all the passions and questions that push us forward, since what we want is to make a difference and add to change. This journey that starts with curiosity and ends with creating a product is what makes this procedure fascinating since new ideas appear all the time.
For that reason small successes count because they show you that you are on the right path and you just need to keep moving! You keep on learning and facing this adventure in front of you. Of course we need to understand that innovation doesn’t necessarily mean a brand new concept. It can be something you believe in and choose to build on. Sparks are all around you! You just need to take a pause to reflect, breathe in, breathe out and jump in! This way everyone can have the opportunity to be an innovator!
Furthermore, we searched for a third and last speech to better clarify innovation. After a brief research we found that “Our approach to innovation is dead wrong”, another TEDx talk given by Diana Kander.
The general idea behind this speech is that “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”. She speaks about how we cannot predict the future and how we need to play in order to figure things out. In other words she states that working too much on your plan prepares you for failure, while experimenting and really interacting with the world can help you succeed.
From her point of view, innovators are detectives. They need to accumulate evidence to back up their assertions about how customers are going to react. They need to be realistic and practical.
To sum up, innovators do not need fiction. They need proof, they need to communicate with people and study their needs. Guessing will get you nowhere regarding innovation. Besides a plan, you need hope, imagination, eagerness and you need to really believe in your purpose. If you don’t love this curiosity of yours, if you don’t work tirelessly towards your vision and if you aren’t persistent, you first and foremost need to work on these assets before your major breakthrough.
