“WHAT IS INNOVATION?”
Nikos Lygeros’ speech for Innovation
Nikos Lygeros is indeed one of the top 50 most intelligent people in the world. He is a scientist, mathematician and a lot more.Lygeros works primarily as a Strategic Consultant in Greece, a professor at Universities in Greece and France, and an interpreter in French courts. He has a PhD in mathematics, and a PhD in linguistics from the University of Lyon, France.
Listening to Lygeros’ speech for Innovation, its basic definition is diminishing and widening. Innovation has many facets and many factors in order to be done. When we believe that everyone can innovate, we are making a mistake. A basic feature to innovate is extroversion, knowledge and intelligence. Still a fundamental rule for innovation is that of cost and benefit as the purpose of an innovative effort must be its long-term success and survival. We should be aware that innovation must ensure quality and should refer to every type of small, medium or large enterprise, so innovation must exist everywhere. But in order to thrive, innovation needs an ecosystem where research will be driven by knowledge. Hence our concern should be the society that will accept innovation or not. People have always asked for the difference, the novelty, but they do not want anything that differs much in order to make it familiar and comprehensible to them. Innovation is thus shattered and restricted.
Many times, we say that, to do something innovative, we will take as an example a successful business. This is a mistake because a successful buisnessman is not a mentor, we are giving him this title.
In order to make an innovation, we should cooperate with people with different personalities to complement each other’s weaknesses, and thus we will delight our thoughts. Innovating alone is difficult because you refer to something that will be applied and accepted by society. Therefore, for innovation, we need persons not only from a specific sector but also from different ones. When we switch to different areas, we collect a lot of information, connect them and create an innovation. Extermination limits us. A specialist from a different field of ours will give a strange idea that we will develop it with our knowledge and experience and with the appropriate transformations and additions we will make it an innovation.
In addition, the flexibility of innovation is a key feature, as we need to know what we ask for and what we need. We have to be sure that we have ruled out any chance of failure of our innovation and we have covered every aspect of it.
However, we must not forget that innovation can also be the transfer of a product already existing on a different market where it was not and has not been used. So, innovation is intimately linked to marketing. You need to know where and how you will develop your innovation.
Guy Kawasaki’s for Innovation “The Art of Innovation”
Guy Kawasaki is a special advisor to the Motorola business unit of Google. He is also the author of APE, What the Plus!, Enchantment, and nine other books. Previously, he was the chief evangelist of Apple. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.
“The Art of Innovation”
Guy kawasaki through his Ted talk at Berkeley represent us his top 10 of the art of innovation.
“Make meaning”
According to Guy making meaning means that you may change the world and if you happen to change the world you will propably make money. However if you start off with the sole desire to make money you probaply won’t make the meaning you want for changing the world and eventaully you will fail. A great example that verifies the above is Apple. The meaning that Apple wanted to make is to democratize computers, they wanted to bring the computer power to everyone and they did it.
“Make a Mantra”
Making a mantra involves that you make a three -or four- word explanation of why the meaming you have made should exist. For instance Nike’s mantra (Authentic, Athletic performance) is short, easy to understand and explaines the company’s philoshophy in just 3 words.
“Jump into the next curve”
Guy, says do not stay still in the curve you already are, do not try to make things slightly better ,try to jump into the next curve, in other words, try to make breakthrough. He explained the above statement with a brief example from the ice buisness.
ice 1.0
In the late 1800’s early 1900’s there was the ice harvesting buiness in the US. This meant that every winter the harvasters would go to a frozen lake and cut blocks of ice . So the idea of innovation was: bigger horse, more horses, bigger sleigh and sharper saw. But basically they were waiting or the winter, in a cold city to cut blocks of ice.
ice 2.0
30 years later a major technological breakthrough occured and the ice factory comes to the fore. Everything changes in the ice buisness after that because it did not have to be winter in a cold city to harvest ice. The ice factory frozes water centrally every time of the year and delivered it to people via the ice man’s truck.
ice 3.0
After 30 years later we have the refrigeratoe curve, in this way all would have their own personal ice factory in their house.
So as we can easily understand, great innovation occurs when you get to the next curve.
“Let 100 folwers blossom”
Positining and branding ulimatle comes down to what the consumer desides not what you decide. Different consumers are going to use your product in ways you did not even imagine, as well as, your product is going to be used by people you would not anticipated.
‘‘Polarize people’’
Succesful products and services polarize people, do not be afraid of polarizing people.
“Churn baby churn”
As an innovator you need to be in denial because the “ naysayeres” will tell you it not necessery. Only by ignoring those people and by involving your product you will succed.
“Unique and Value”
If you are a engineer you have to make a product that is unique and valuable and if you are a marketing person you have to communicate that your product is unique and valuable
“What is innovation? 15 experts give us their definition”
The truth is we all talk about innovation and innovative ideas but no one actually knows exactly what innovation really is and opinios differs. Every expert have a different opinion about this issue.
Innovation is the creation of usefull and novel ideas. Hence we all have to think out of the box. Moreover innovation is a feasible relevant offering such as a product, service process or even an experience which is provided to the customers or users’ experience that they had not before.
Innovation makes the futer brighter, the living easier and faster because
people with the use of gadgets and smart ideas are able to do things that they could not even imagine 20 years before.
Team members :
Professor: Betty Tsakarestou
