Innovation for Noobs
On a fine pleasant Saturday morning in April, I decided to clean up my cupboard & I stumbled upon this old register of mine — back from college. The first thing it reminded me of was the beautiful Dehradun weather, it made me feel fresh! Also reminded how I used to be all serious in the first year, taking notes during my classes, trying to gather as much knowledge as possible, being a responsible student coming to classes on time, taking all deadlines seriously- not that I do not take deadlines seriously now, but come on! we’re talking about college life here.
Well, coming back to this register — I just went through the pages, mostly filled with scribblings of random stuff, like that of any other designer, but a page caught up my attention. Now this page had a bold topic written on top ‘Innovation — Lecture 1’. I remembered that I took this online course on NPTEL on Product Design and Innovation, out of curiosity to see how were the professors of IIT, Guwahati? What was all the vibe about clearing UCEED to get admission to this college? To give some context: I wanted to go to IIT Bombay or even to Guwhati to pursue my Bachelor’s degree, I got a rank of 366 in UCEED. These colleges have very few seats, and obviously, I didn't get in, and that curiosity of mine awoke back when I first heard of this course.
So, jumping back to the present, I wondered ‘What was 18-year-old me trying to gain from this lecture?’ Was I really trying to learn about Innovation? or was I just trying to figure out what I could not be a part of at IIT? By now, you could have guessed why’d I make that choice.
So today, let us understand what innovation really is about. What are my viewpoints on it? How deep does the meaning of the term ‘Innovation’ carry?
Let’s travel back in time! It's the year 1834 and you’re just strolling around(cause there's no Netflix) in Dentdale a small village on a hill in Cumbria, England, wearing a thick blazer in the winters. Now, you see a young 24-year-old chap just chilling and trying to catch a few fishes to sell them in the market. He was staring at an old waterwheel in action, taking away all the water from the river to the farms. It just struck him how much power can be made available if he forces the water into one single stream, and with that idea in his mind, he invented hydroelectricity!
His name was William Armstrong & his interest in science drove him to become an engineer and a wealthy industrialist later in life. Together with Richard Norman Shaw, who was an architect, he created a modest mansion on the slopes of a hill, in Rothbury. He then equipped the mansion with water-powered laundry, a very early version of the dishwasher, a small elevator, and what not! To power all of these, he directed a small number of streams nearby into 5 reservoirs, and in one of those, he installed a hydroelectric engine, which powered the mansion’s hydraulic machinery at his house! A year later in 1870- he installed a dynamo creating the world's first-ever domestic hydroelectric plant. Electricity from this plant was used to power his house and many farm buildings on his estate. He then commercialized hydroelectricity!
Now, let's analyze this story. Armstrong was the inventor and since he exploited the invention commercially, he then became an innovator. So by definition,
Innovation is nothing but:
Theoretical conception + Technological Invention + Commercial Exploitation
So what are the skills which you need to learn to become an innovator?
Just like Armstrong, you need the following:
- Observation skills: Always be aware of your surroundings, keep yourself on the verge to find out something new or some unusual user behavior. Eg. Armstrong observed the waterwheel, and got the idea of hydroelectricity!
- Experimentation: Never stop experimenting! Eg. Armstrong was an engineer at heart, he experimented, till he could achieve the goal that he wanted to!
- Association: Associate with people in different domains! Eg. Armstrong associated with his architect friend Richard to build his mansion, where he wanted to conduct the hydropower experimentations.
- Questioning ability: To be able to ask questions continuously on every step, to achieve the best outcome. Eg. Armstrong as an engineer, always used to find out ways to experiment with new ideas, and if no question is asked, you stop inventing and discovering new ideas.
- Networking: Innovation would never happen when you don't have the right connection of humans who can help you. Eg. To commercialize a product you need the right network of people, which Armstrong did, to commercialize this invention of his.
There are still a lot of topics, which I have not covered however, to start innovating, these are the basis upon which you should start working on. You now know what innovation’s formula is and what skillset you need to set your mind towards! This was a very basic understanding of what Innovation really is about.
So if you’re still thinking about how to innovate, you need to stop procrastinating and start doing. Everyone can be a creative problem solver and an innovator when they follow a systematic approach. Remember “perseverance is the key for innovators, be ready to fail in practice and celebrate after winning!”
This was my first post, and I hope you enjoyed reading this! If you wish to discuss something just drop a comment, I'm extra chatty on topics like these!
~Shreshth
