FROM DILIP MUKERJEA

"Genius is in-born, may it never be still-born."

"Oysters, irritated by grains of sand, give birth to pearls. Brains, irritated by curiosity, give birth to ideas."

"Brainpower is the bridge to the future; it is what transports you from wishful thinking to willful doing."

"Unless you keep learning & growing, the status quo has no status."

Friday, April 10, 2009

FOCUS ON INNOVATION


“Every organisation ~ not just business ~ needs one competence: INNOVATION. And every organisation needs a way to record and appraise its innovative performance.”

~ Peter Drucker, Corporate Genius and Sage of the Business World

Innovation results when creativity is extended and amplified. Through this, the final product emerges, or the process is improved. This effort must have a significant impact on an individual,a group, an organisation, an industry, or a society.

There are four principal types of innovation that result from the creative process. These can be summarised as follows:

PRODUCT INNOVATION ~ an enhancement to a physical product or service.

PROCESS INNOVATION ~ an improvement in a process that results in better efficiency and/or effectiveness.

MARKETING INNOVATION ~ a fresh, novel, new marketing concept or application.

MANAGEMENT INNOVATION ~ an original or unique improvement in management practice.

“We have to be willing to cannibalise what we’re doing today in order to ensure our leadership in the future. It’s counter to human nature, but you have to kill your business while it is still working.”

~ Lewis Platt, CEO, Hewlett-Packard

Innovation cannot take place in isolation; it should be in real time, a conveyor belt of ideas that constantly translates into value. The Third Millennium will witness a serious shortage of several resources. Just three of these are fresh water, electrical energy, and skilled human capital. With competition increasing dramatically, and the shift to brainpower-based industries, the need for innovation is paramount.

In order to match the challenges of an innovative planet, several forward-thinking organisations have established crossfunctional teams, with representatives from diverse disciplines: technical, finance, design, operations, marketing, and personnel.

Furthermore, in this age of ‘intimacy marketing,’ customers are teaming up with suppliers, and the middlemen. Their coordinated efforts facilitate innovation and enhance value for all parties. The thought process, alone, or in tandem with action, is a function of creativity.

Innovation occurs when ideas become useful. Creativity precedes innovation; it is a behaviour, whereas innovation is a process. Creativity is the stimulus that animates innovation.

Generally speaking, creativity occurs via individual effort, and innovation through group effort.

Innovation is the pay-off, but it will not germinate unless the seeds of creativity have been planted into a fertile, receptive culture for ideas to blossom.

[Excerpted from the 'Igniting Innovation' edition of The Braindancer Series of bookazines by Dilip Mukerjea. All the images in this post are the intellectual property of Dilip Mukerjea.]

No comments: