What is Innovation?<\/p>\n

In this Forbes article<\/a>, Innovation is defined as \u201ca ‘big new’ for your business or a ‘big difference’ in how you operate your business\u201d. \u00a0Innovation exists along a continuum which extends from \u201cmaterial improvements to existing products or processes all the way to the rare ‘disruptive innovation’.\u201d<\/p>\n

How does it occur – through \u201cideation, exploration and experimentation. \u00a0Innovation occurs when we \u201ccreate something with customers or when we create new value by combining seemingly unrelated things or ideas in new ways, transferring something from one environment to another, or finding new insights in patterns or aberrations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Innovation does not come naturally. \u00a0We are \u201cblind to challenging ideas\u201d. \u00a0We don’t want to see them. Thinking differently is also \u201chard emotionally\u201d. \u00a0That is because we are programmed to use \u201cthe 3Ds \u2013 deny, defend and deflect\u201d. \u00a0Fear is one of the biggest barriers to innovation, particularly fear of failure. \u00a0This fear is developed and rewarded\u00a0in the work place and in education. \u00a0We are programmed to think that failure is not smart, but \u201cbeing smart is knowing what you don\u2019t know, prioritising what you need to know and finding best evidence-based answers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Progressive organisations \u201csimultaneously tolerate mistakes”\u00a0while insisting\u00a0“on operational excellence\u201d. \u00a0Failures are viewed in such organisations\u00a0as \u201clearning opportunities\u201d. \u00a0Failure helps to develop humility, which\u00a0is necessary for empathy \u2013 \u201ca critical skill in user-centric innovation\u201d<\/p>\n

Within an organisation, innovation requires \u201cidea meritocracy\u201d where the \u201cbest evidence-based ideas win\u201d. \u00a0It also requires a new culture in which there is \u201chumility, empathy and\u00a0a devaluation of hierarchical rank\u201d.<\/p>\n

In summary, innovation is difficult because it\u00a0can only thrive in\u00a0an innovation conducive environment. \u00a0The first difficulty is\u00a0to devise an environmental model suitable for the organisation, The second\u00a0is introducing the model.<\/p>\n

Conor Foley<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is Innovation? In this Forbes article, Innovation is defined as \u201ca ‘big new’ for your business or a ‘big difference’ in how you operate your business\u201d. \u00a0Innovation exists along a continuum which extends from \u201cmaterial improvements to existing products or processes all the way to the rare ‘disruptive innovation’.\u201d How does it occur – […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[66,67,68,87],"yoast_head":"\n