INNOVATION DEFINED

I like what I am reading:

"Innovation is executing something real in a different way than has ever worked before. 

I emphasize execution because I believe ideas are all in the ether, and nothing under the sun is completely original. 

But how you put things together, for what purpose and how it is used, amplified and impacts the people it reaches has the potential to be completely unique. 

Real innovation has impact,... "

~ Paul Berry, Founder and CEO of RebelMouse, one of the world's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Advertising;

INNOVATION DEFINED

Here's an interesting definition for 'innovation' from David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue Airways:

"Innovation is trying to figure out a way to do something better than it's ever been done before."

UNDERSTANDING INNOVATION IN REAL TERMS

In my continuing search for a better understanding as well as multiple perspectives, I certainly like the way Prof Ed Roberts of the MIT’s Sloan School of Management & Chair of the MIT Entrepreneurship Center, has described 'innovation', using a simple but apt equation, as follows

Innovation = Invention + Commercialization

A product idea, technology, software algorithm, patent, new business mode idea, or similar invention is not innovation until it is successfully married to a commercialization capability so that it has a positive and material real-world impact.

A case in point:

The Apple Company is recognized as an innovation leader worldwide for products like the Macintosh computer and the iPod.

However, when you think more closely about this with the model of the equation, it is clear that some of the underlying inventions, the GUI (Graphical User Interface) from Xerox PARC and MP3 from Franhouffer Institute, had been around for a while before Apple came along.

But they were merely inventions, and not material innovations, until they were effectively commercialized by Steve Jobs & Co.

[Source: 'How to Build a Successful Innovation Ecosystem: Educate, Network, and Celebrate';]

INNOVATION DEFINED

"I define it as the ability of individuals, companies, and entire nations to continuously create their desired future. Innovation depends on harvesting knowledge from a range of disciplines besides science and technology, among them design, social science, and the arts. And it is exemplified by more than just products; services, experiences, and processes can be innovative as well. The work of entrepreneurs, scientists, and software geeks alike contributes to innovation. It is also about the middlemen who know how to realize value from ideas. Innovation flows from shifts in mind-set that can generate new business models, recognize new opportunities, and weave innovations throughout the fabric of society. It is about new ways of doing and seeing things as much as it is about the breakthrough idea...Seen in this way, innovation is always in a state of evolution, with the nature of its practice evolving along with our ideas about the desired future..."

~ John Kao, writing in 'Innovation Nation: How America Is Losing Its Innovation Edge, Why It Matters, and What We Can Do to Get It Back';

INNOVATION DEFINED

I got this fabulous definition of innovation from innovation strategist Stephen Shapiro, writing in his '24/7 Innovation' weblog:

"Although much has been written about innovation, there is little agreement on what it is or why it is necessary. Is innovation the same as creativity? Is it synonymous with product development? Or is innovation just radical change?

I like to describe innovation through an old, yet relevant, joke. The joke begins with two men who are hiking in the mountains of Canada when they stumble upon a hungry 600-pound grizzly bear.

Immediately, one of the hikers takes off his backpack and hiking boots and proceeds to put on his running shoes.

The other hiker looks at him and asks, “What are you doing? You can’t outrun a bear!”

The first hiker responds, “I know, but I only need to outrun you!”

This is innovation. It is not simply about new products, new processes, new services or new ideas. It is about staying one step ahead of your competition..."

In reality, he has defined innovation more as an “organization’s ability to adapt and evolve repeatedly and rapidly to stay one step ahead of the competition.”

According to him, a culture of innovation, when done right, gives you a competitive edge because it makes you more nimble with an increased ability to sense and respond to change.

So, how to create a culture of innovation?

Readers can go to this link to read more about the strategist's insights.

A QUICK ONE: INNOVATION DEFINED

"Innovation is the process of creating & delivering new customer value in the marketplace."

~ Curtis Carlson & William Wilmot, authors of 'Innovation: The 5 Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want';