We all wanted to be innovative

In the current times, innovation seems to have appropriated our activities and our work, in all areas. We are practically forced to do something «truly innovative» and in some conversations, several colleagues have commented to me that it is a question that they make to candidates to be part of their team: «How innovative do you consider yourself?«

Is it really a requirement to be innovative to achieve goals today?

I do not think so.

What happens is that changes (especially technological) are happening so quickly, what we do need imperatively is an ability to adapt to them, and an ability to adopt them quickly …. When needed.

However, in any case we are all innovative in a natural way, so that at the right time will arise that ability. We must bear in mind that innovation is not a brilliant idea that comes from a moment of inspiration. Although it does not seem like, innovation is almost always small things that generate important changes. Changing the tips of sticks for sharp stones meant a great innovation in their time (perhaps the first of humanity), or the appearance of the corcholata or crown cap for the bottles, in the nearer times, revolutionized their scope of action.

If we look around us we will find many examples of innovative ideas without which today seems impossible that it did not exist at some point. Precisely this daily life is what makes it appear that very little is really innovative, since the initial surprise disappears very quickly.

Another thing that needs to be taken into account is that technology (particularly that of information) is not a condition, nor does it necessarily intervene in the conception of the idea.

How can we do to establish innovation as leitmotiv of our activities?

It must be clear that innovation is the implementation of creativity , so the process is born from having creative ideas. And this is good, since we humans are eminently creative beings, a quality that society is opaquing us as we grow, but we always maintain. We can then use the 10% rule, in which we can point out that out of 1000 ideas, 100 are viable; Of these 10 are implementable and finally only 1 is successful.

Now the problem is how to generate this amount of ideas. For a single person it is quite complicated, because in addition you have to document them enough to make the selection and move on to the next step. However, we can then make use of another capacity in which the human being is quite good: teamwork. Using techniques already known as brainstorming, or encouraging company members to send their ideas (whatever) to a mailbox, we will get the raw material we need and the rest of the process is analysis and re-give ideas about those that have been selected.

That is, one way to generate innovation in my work team is:

1. Get ideas from everyone, no matter how crazy that they look.
2. Check them out and stick with those that have some application or viability
3. Of those that remain, works with those that can be implemented
4. Use them and wait for some to have the expected performance.
5. Go back to point 1, and include the ideas you’ve already discarded, sometimes an idea that seems crazy, with the passage of time is the one that gives you the solution.

Implementing innovation.

We must keep in mind that, finally, innovation is a type of change that must be handled in the best possible way. In fact, it is a change that violates our status quo, and so the resistance it generates in many individuals is greater than when it comes to changing a thing for another but different known.

Therefore, if product of the previous steps I have already obtained a viable innovation, it is necessary to take into account that when implanting it must be managed this change, which means to be prepared to handle the different barriers that are presented, people who:

• He just does not like new things
• Feel threatened by change
• They are afraid to make mistakes because they do not know about innovation
• They think «all past times were better»
• They feel handicapped because «It did not occur to them»

For all these attitudes, there are tools of the Change Management, which I will not review in this article. It is only necessary to know that these barriers exist and that they must be handled properly to minimize the risk of implementation failure.

And Technology?

As already mentioned, innovation does not necessarily require the application of technology, to be so. However it is of great help. Thanks to the new branches and trends of today, is that it has accelerated the appearance of new applications or improvements to the existing. And innovation is not only creating something out of nothing, it is also improving something existing. And in both cases the technology can act as a catalyst.

A clear example of this is the case of using tools of one specialty to achieve innovation in the products of another. For example, Chef Dianara Kasko, creating new forms of pastry using 3D printing .

Finally, regardless of how it is done, or how we do it, it is in our human nature to innovate, as it is part of the creative capacity we possess. In addition today we have more and better tools than ever before, and allow us to put our ideas into practice better.

You have to. Not because it is a requirement of business or to look very good professionals, but because it is what sets us apart from other living beings.

Sometimes what is truly innovative is doing what everyone knows what needs to be done … but nobody does.