Innovation needs courage — 4 lessons learned to unfold your own innovative power
Innovation is a topic that concerns us personally and professionally every day. We are always looking for new impulses, trying to absorb relevant information like a sponge. We regularly exchange new ideas with colleagues from the Porsche Digital Lab in Berlin and are often amazed by the great ideas and projects that emerge from them. The focus of our work is on Quantum Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Mixed Reality applications and topics related to the Internet of Things.
Sometimes we go unconventional ways, where we don’t know if they will really help us in the end. Last but not least, innovation sometimes occurs where we don’t expect it — a slight taste of magic is always in the air.
As innovation is the one thing every company pursues, we would like to share what we have learned about it:
Lesson 1: Innovation requires special courage! It sounds simple, but in reality, it’s not so easy. When trying to put new ideas into action, we often encounter obstacles or resistance at many different levels. For a new idea to unfold its full innovative potential, we have to walk many miles, to convince many people and to try out different scenarios. Gleb Tritus from Lufthansa Innovation Hub Berlin put it this way: “It takes innovation at the core, in the machine room, in the respective headquarters. And in addition, however, there is a need for antennae in the market out here that leave an authentic footprint in the ecosystem. In order to be successful and to sustain innovation, you have to master both modes.”
Lesson 2: Corporate culture plays a key role when it comes to whether new ideas get a chance or not, as we’ve learned from Christiane Brandes-Visbeck, author of the book “Netzwerk schlägt Hierarchie”. And creativity is an important prerequisite for innovation. Within organisations, this requires a certain freedom and the space for employees to unfold their innovative potential. Alice Martin, singer of “Chefboss”, learned that something new can also arise when people from completely different areas come together. That means diversity and a dedicated space for exchange and discussion, across disciplines and hierarchy levels, are what make innovation in organisations possible. That’s why the Porsche Digital Lab has many different working spaces to facilitate creativity — and, of course, a very colourful, awesome team.
Lesson 3: It begins with yourself. In many respects we can confirm that man is a creature of habit. For example, every evening after work, the first thing is to check the mobile phone — it became some kind of ritual to wrap up the day. Nevertheless, it is important to be open-minded, to break habits, to do things differently, in order to create small gaps between your own habits, in which perhaps an ingenious new idea can implant itself.
Lesson 4: Don’t give up! Remember great innovators like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford or Walt Disney. They were laughed at for their seemingly crazy ideas. But they kept on going and that’s why today we can use light bulbs, drive around in cars and watch our beloved classic cartoons. Try to find some inspiration in the words of Thomas Edison: “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.”
What are your personal lessons on creativity & innovation? Is it even possible to facilitate innovation or do new ideas always come spontaneously, unplanned? Please tell us!
Patricia Rennert is Senior Manager IoT at Porsche Digital Lab.
Alissa Wilms is Working Student for Quantum Computing at Porsche Digital Lab.
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