KPDS-2012-Autumn-05

ÖSYM • osym
Nov. 18, 2012 1 min

Innovation is not a synonym for invention – an invention has to be taken to the market to be regarded as innovation. Innovation must change the way people do something. In an essay on creativity, Teresa Amabile and others describe innovation as ‘the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization’. Creativity, which includes invention, is only the starting point for innovation, which is a necessary but not sufficient condition for it. As Amabile implies, the business of innovation needs to be managed all the way from the creative inspiration through to a launchable product or service. Innovation is not restricted to products and services. It might be internal to the business, in the form of new and more effective organizational structures or processes. It could be a new way of marketing or distribution, like online grocery deliveries. By today’s thinking, innovation can also be in the form of a significant improvement to an existing commodity. When you build a better product, not necessarily a revolutionary one, the whole world will want to buy it. A lot of small types of innovation like this are more akin to continuous improvement, which makes up 85-90% of the average corporate development portfolio.


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