Innovation

What does "Innovation" mean to you ?

If you ask 20 people who describe themselves as "innovators," you're likely to get 20 different answers. Innovation can refer to a process  example Apple has a very innovative way of creating the iPhone which was one of the most successful innovations of our time. To a set of behaviors or characteristics Steve Jobs was very innovative. Innovation is a disciplined approach to discovering and building opportunities to create new meaningful sources of value to targeted users in a sustainable and scalable way that can be learned and practiced as set of personal leadership skills.

The key distinction between "innovation" and "invention" is Invention is similar to innovation. Both have to do with creating something novel out of great ideas. Invention is the first boat ever pushed out to sea. It creates something new, fills an important need and may be revolutionary. It is often the first of its kind. But, does it create meaningful value that someone can realize in an accessible way? A fabulous new discovery in a lab may be a wonderful invention, but if it doesn't create value in the market, it is not an innovation.

Successful innovation requires three fundamental elements

1) The ability to see new potential opportunities through the eyes of a real user. One of the most important parts of the innovation process is to reframe what the presenting problem or possibility is through the lens of the intended user. This requires empathetic observation and objective questioning in order to understand what the real need is. This is the core essence behind Design Thinking methodology.

2) The ability to create new value for users and refine the idea quickly to hone in how to maximize that value and minimize unwanted friction. An idea even a great one is not worth a lot if it can't be manifested into something tangible that users can get access to. Ultimately, it has to be something that they are willing pay for. If the idea development process is supported by rapid cycles of learning and hypothesis testing, the chance of success is dramatically increased. This system of continuous learning has been powerfully articulated in the customer development process popularized by entrepreneurship guru Steve Blank and the The Lean Startup movement led by Eric Ries.

3) The ability to make something that can sustainably scale once it gets tractions in the market. For a new idea to have the best chance of reaching a lot of users and achieve sustainable growth, it needs to be supported by a viable business model. With the continued growth of the internet, mobile platforms and novel payment systems, business model innovation has become its own form of new value creation. Mark Zuckerberg' s "Metaverse" is one of the most powerful tools which is simplify called as a virtual world where people can socialize, work and play together.

What is the importance of creativity and innovation?

Innovation is important since it helps to build and implement new solutions to all kinds of problems which may not be solved with traditional means, and when existing solutions do not help to achieve results desired. All progress of human civilization is based on innovative solutions which eliminate really tough problems, resolve conflicts, create new opportunities in every area of human activities: technology, business, health, education, social institutions.

Creativity is important because it is a key ingredient of innovative process, and without it innovation is nearly impossible. Creativity is needed to go “out of the box” and find new ideas that later can be turned to innovative solutions. Creativity makes it possible by expanding a scope of solution search space, by fighting psychological inertia, by recognizing new opportunities, by establishing connections between things that no one before thought could be connected.

But just to find a new creative idea is not enough to say that the idea is innovation: if the idea is really useful and adds new value, it should be implemented. Implementing the idea is a different process which requires different skills and capabilities than creativity only. Only very small number of creative ideas are implemented. But only once the idea is implemented and a solution based on the idea is made accessible to those who will benefit from using it, the result can be called innovation.

Summary
Innovation has improved the lives of most of the people in the world. Education levels are increasing steadily. Solar and other renewable energy is moving the world from variable cost energy to fixed cost energy. The overall cost of energy is dropping. Life spans are increasing. You can refer to the iPrep offering on Innovation Incubator for more details.