Decoding Innovation (Ref: Times Ascent)

Heres the article (Gyan Gurus-Pravin Rajpal- Times Ascent) that inspired me to work better....

“Diamond is a coal that stuck to its job” – Thomas Edison

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. Innovation has lit up every lamp in this world, made it possible for the man to fly in air, reach the depths of ocean, brought the world on the fingertips through internet, made every single discovery and created wonderful products for better living on this planet. Man is still not satisfied. His imagination is now exploring the possibilities of exploring life on moon and other planets.

Man’s brain is the greatest natural resource in this world and innovation is the priceless ingredient for mankind’s progress in future. It is a creative faculty and the ability to fantasize. The history of the business is essentially the history of innovation.

A powerful imagination makes us infinite; in fact it is quite often an excuse when we say that this is not possible. We should instead ask why is it not possible.

Lot of people confuse innovation with labs, labs with R&D and R&D with millions of dollars investment. Great works are the result of great passions. Microsoft and Hewlett Packard are excellent examples, which have emerged from the garage and not from any R&D labs.

Innovation - Paradigms

Many people think that innovation is a lucky flash of inspiration or unique skill mastered by fortunate few. Some people confuse innovation with invention. There is also a popular belief that innovation is tough. Invention is discovering things that have never been discovered before. Innovation, on the other hand, is the discovery of new ways of creating value. Not everyone can be an inventor, but everyone can be innovative.

Innovation is Easy! I have decoded the acronym ‘INNOVATION’ so that the steps to innovation become simpler to understand and remember.

I – IDEAS / Imagination – Start with ideas. Imagine without boundaries
N – New What / How / Why / Who / When / Where
N – New customer needs - Unperceived and unarticulated
O – Obstacles – Obstacles and problems are the sources of innovation
V – Values – Think customer values to innovate
A – Automate – Automate all human activities
T – Technology – Innovation becomes easier by using existing technologies
I – Integrate – Integrate products, technologies, disciplines & capabilities
O – Out-of-the-box thinking – Challenge the conventional wisdom
N – New products in market– The ultimate measure of innovation

For every customer need or a business problem, which can not be resolved easily through conventional wisdom, there exists an unconventional / unusual solution in the form of innovation.