Innovation and Ideas
What is Innovation
✓ This happens when someone “improves on
or makes a significant contribution” to
something that has already been invented
✓ And converting the knowledge into a
wealth
✓ Is a complex process – even defining it as
“problematic”
What is Innovation
The introduction of new ideas, goods,
services, and practices which are intended to be
useful (though a number of unsuccessful
innovations can be found throughout history).
The main driver for innovation is often the
courage and energy to better the world. An
essential element for innovation is its
application in a commercially successful way.
Innovation has punctuated and changed human
history (consider the development of electricity,
steam engines, motor vehicles, et al).
Types of Innovation
In business and economics, innovation is often
divided into five types:
1. Product innovation, which involves the
introduction of a new good or service that is
substantially improved. This might include
improvements in functional characteristics,
technical abilities, ease of use, or any other
dimension.
2. Process innovation involves the
implementation of a new or significantly
improved production or delivery method.
Types of Innovation
In business and economics, innovation is often
divided into five types:
3. Marketing innovation is the development of
new marketing methods with improvement
in product design or packaging, product
promotion or pricing.
4. Organizational innovation (also referred to as
social innovation) involves the creation of
new organizations, business practices, ways
of running organizations or new
organizational behavior.
Types of Innovation
In business and economics, innovation is often
divided into five types:
5. Business Model innovation involves changing
the way business is done in terms of
capturing value e.g. Compaq vs. Dell.
Types of Innovation
In business and economics, innovation is often
divided into five types:
5. Business Model innovation involves changing
the way business is done in terms of
capturing value e.g. Compaq vs. Dell.
Kinds of Innovation
1. Technological Innovation
➢ These are breakthrough inventions that have
wide-reaching impact and influence which benefit
society and business.
➢ Major breakthroughs can be radical and disruptive
for people, society, businesses and countries or
the whole world.
➢ Example; the internet.
➢ They can change the way people live their lives,
the way companies do business and the way
countries govern and behave
Kinds of Innovation
2. Operational Innovation
➢ Operational Innovation is smaller, more process-
oriented Innovation
➢ Tends to be incremental in nature
➢ Doesn’t necessarily change products or services or how
they are used and most of it goes unnoticed by the
public, but often it is the means to improved products
and lower operating costs.
➢ This type of Innovation happens by the very act of
people doing their work… “Hmm, what if we try doing
it this way instead?”
➢ Have much smaller impact, per invention, compared
with breakthrough technological innovation, but
cumulatively their effect can be enormous. Their effect
builds and grows over time.
Kinds of Innovation
2. Operational Innovation includes:
➢ New systems or refinements to existing ones.
➢ For example, internal systems and methods for many
aspects of work such as staff administration, purchasing,
distribution and sales.
➢ Small improvements in operations or processes.
➢ For example, changes to make equipment run more
effectively.
➢ Minor improvements or developments that will
enhance it to a technological product.
➢ Innovative new business practices.
➢ For example, new ways for thinking strategically.
Kinds of Innovation
3. Organizational Innovation
➢ Organizational Innovation is where a company
or organization itself is innovative
➢ In an innovative company or organization
everyone knows his or her specific role in
innovation
➢ It can be purposely built through putting
organizational culture as the operational style
or mode to get things done.
➢ Innovative companies don’t just produce
innovative goods and services. They use
innovative methods in everything they do.
Kinds of Innovation
How to Instill Organizational Innovation
1. Developing and instituting an innovative
work culture among the people within the
company or organization.
2. By enforcing work culture, company or
organization able to:
1. Change the way the staff work
2. Change their attitudes and mindsets
3. Improve their skills
4. Improve the methods they use to carry out
their work
Sources of Innovation
Within the company or industry
➢ Unexpected occurrence (viagra, penicillin)
➢ Incongruities (Federal Express)
➢ Process needs (enzyme for cataract operation,
sugar free products)
➢ Industry and market changes (advances in
technology, healthcare industry)
Within the social environment
◼ Demographic changes (change in consumer
preference)
◼ Perceptual changes (fitness craze)
◼ New knowledge (video industry, robotics)
Common Characteristics of
Creative Entrepreneurs
✓ Sensitive to problems
✓ Broad perspectives
✓ Flexible and adaptable
✓ Original thinker and stick-to-own
opinion
✓ Risk-taker
✓ Motivated and dedicated
✓ Curious
Examples of Innovation
Innovation Process Cycle
The ABC’s of Innovation
Innovation = creativity + commercialization
Creativity
According to social psychologist Teresa Amabile,
there are three basic ingredients to creativity:
◼ Domain skills - Domain skills are developed as
one becomes an expert in a field. To be a creative
mechanical/industrial engineer, one must first
master the fundamentals of the discipline.
◼ Creative thinking skills - Creative thinking skills
include seeking novelty and diversity, being
independent, being persistent, and having high
standards.
Creativity
According to social psychologist Teresa Amabile,
there are three basic ingredients to creativity:
◼ Intrinsic motivation - Intrinsic motivation implies
that the reasons for doing things come from
within - from passion and pleasure, not as a result
of external demands, pressures, or rewards.
Creativity
✓ Is the process of generating unique and useful
ideas.
✓ Innovation will take place when there is a
creative idea generation.
✓ Innovation is about taking the creative/unique
new idea and turning it into something of value
✓ Innovation requires discipline and action to
evaluate the ideas, test them, modify them and
then apply them. It is through there disciplined
and actions that turn an idea into something of
value.
✓ Creative entrepreneurs observed people’s
problem, and see opportunities. These
entrepreneurs then innovate by applying creative
solutions to people’s problems to better enhance
people’s quality of life.
✓ Entrepreneurship is the commercialization of
creativity.
✓ Entrepreneurship occurs when an individual or
organization:
✓ Sees the potential in an idea that can be developed for
the marketplace or user groups
✓ Is prepared to take the necessary risks to stir things up
and get things out of their neat or comfortable spaces
✓ Has the skills (or access to them), confidence,
determination, and the funds (or access to them) to
carry out the innovation that is required to turn the
idea into reality.
Portrait of a Creative People
“Creative people pay attention to their
world, see things differently, challenge
assumptions, take risks, are not afraid to fail,
and strive to generate multiple solutions to
problems. They are passionate about creativity
and seek opportunities to innovate.”
Phases of Creative Process
Phase 1: Background or Knowledge
Accumulation
Involves seeking and gathering of
information through observations, readings,
conversations with others, attending seminars,
meetings and workshops, etc.
Phase 2: The Incubation Process
Entrepreneurs deliberately allows creativity to
spur by breaking-away from the problem and let
the subconscious mind work on it.
Phases of Creative Process
Phase 3: The Idea Experience
Discovery of the idea or solutions to the
problems (eureka factor).
Phase 4: Evaluation and Implementation
Evaluation and implementation of workable
ideas requires high level of persistency and
patience. Entrepreneurs do not easily give-up when
they face obstacles.
Components of Creativity
1. Creative thinking skills
✓ The use of creative intelligence to approach
problems and find solutions
2. Knowledge
✓ Four styles of creative intelligence:
✓ Intuitive, Innovative, Imaginative, Inspirational
3. Motivation
✓ Extrinsic
✓ Intrinsic
Common Creativity Techniques
A. Brainstorming
B. Scammperr
C. Lateral thinking
D. Mind mapping
E. Problem reversal
F. Attribute listing
SCAMMPERR
S - Substitute - components, materials, people
C - Combine - mix, combine with other assemblies or services, integrate
A - Adapt - alter, change function, use part of another element
M - Magnify - Make it enormous, longer, higher, overstated, added
features
M - Modify - increase or reduce in scale, change shape, modify
attributes (e.g. colour)
P - Put to another use
E - Eliminate - remove elements, simplify, reduce to core functionality
R - Rearrange - change the order, interchange components, change the
speed or other pattern.
R - Reverse - turn inside out or upside down.
Lateral Thinking
✓ Seeking to solve problems by unorthodox or
apparently illogical methods (Concise Oxford
Dictionary).
✓ Moving sideways when working on a problem to
try different perceptions, different concepts and
different points of entry (get us out of the usual
line of thought).
Mind Mapping
✓ also called ‘spider diagrams’ which
represents ideas, notes, information, etc.
in far-reaching tree-diagrams.
Problem Reversal
The Method
1. Create negative statements
2. Doing what everybody else doesn’t
3. Make a list of pairs of opposing actions which
can be applied to the problem
4. Change the direction or location of your
perspective
5. “flip – flop” the results
6. Turn defeat into victory or victory to defeat
Blocks to Creativity
Needs to be recognized and eliminated so that it
will smooth the way to creativity
CLASSIFICATION
1. Perceptual
2. Emotional
3. Cultural
4. Environmental
5. Intellectual / Conceptual
1. Perceptual Block
1. Prevent problem recognition, limiting the
problem.
2. Inability to see problems from different
perspectives
3. Stereotyping, missing the connections or
associations
4. Not thinking outside the box
5. Literal thinking
2. Emotional Blocks
1. Fear of failure can paralyse us if we think what
we are doing won’t be good enough.
2. Will lead to procrastination and project
abandonment.
3. Most blockages are attitudinal or psychological.
4. Inability to incubate can lead to other fears
such as: fear of problem, fear of work, fear of
fun, fear of exploring and fear of abandonment.
3. Cultural Blocks
1. Tradition is to be maintained
2. Playfulness is only for children
3. Fantasies or dreams are for crazy people
4. Comfortable zone
4. Environmental Blocks
1. Environmental blockages are those impose
upon us by external factors. These include the
working atmosphere, amount of stress on
individual, organizational culture, supervisory
practices and even the physical surroundings of
our workspace.
2. Blockages can also arise from physical and
mental exhaustion.
5. Intellectual / Conceptual
Blocks
1. Failure to understand and acknowledge
problems that need to be solved.
2. “I don’t know; “Don’t’ ask me”
3. “Try asking someone else”
4. Many creative solutions are hidden by mistaken
assumptions. Therefore, people need to be
more open minded and receptive.
Difference between Invention,
Innovation and Creativity
Relationship between creativity,
invention and innovation
Examples of how invention
turned into innovation
Steps to Enhance Creativity
1. Open Your Mind - Have one new
experience every day; no matter how small.
New experiences stimulate the brain and
help you make new and original connections;
critical for boosting breakthroughs.
2. Diversify - Involve others in your problem-
solving efforts who bring a different
perspective or cultural experience than
yours.
Steps to Enhance Creativity
3. Mental Floss – Relax; Stress, exhaustion,
boredom and even pain can block our
pathways to creativity.
4. Stop Looking For the Right Answer -
Look for many right answers.
5. Discover Your Creative Rhythm - Start
paying attention to when you get your best
ideas.
Steps to Enhance Creativity
6. Health Makes Wealth - Regular exercise
not only benefits your body, it boosts brain
performance as well.
◼ Innovative Thinking: Six Simple Secrets
by Padi Selwyn, M.A.
……and another one: Find what
you love to do
“We know that people do their most
creative work when they love doing what
they’re doing. There’s no substitute for intrinsic
motivation, that is, motivation that comes from
within. Although such motivation doesn’t
guarantee creativity, dislike or lack of interest in
work practically guarantees non-creativity.”
Suggested Innovation Framework
Just Do Do not be afraid to fail
Take risks
It Move your idea forward
Seek • Seek novelty in design
• Diversify
Novelty in • Stop looking for the right answer; look for many
Design right answers
Set Goals and • Define clearly your goals and objectives
Objectives
Identify Problems • Challenge all assumptions
• Seek opportunities to innovate
and/or Opportunities
• Open your mind
• Mental Floss
Seek Opportunities • Discover your creative rhythm
• Health Makes Wealth
• Become an expert in a field
you love
Find what you love to do • Become passionate about
your field
