What is innovation to you? The word Innovation might seem intimidating to some; the word intimidated me for sure. Ever since I can remember, I began associating the term innovation with products such as Google and ASIMO. As someone who is easily impressionable, these associations stayed with me, and they began to define what innovation meant for me. At first, my associations may not seem to account for too much, but I am an engineer, and it is my job to develop new ways to solve problems or find new ways to implement existing solutions. Sometimes the customers I work with ask for new, innovative products. But when my internal bar for what qualifies as an innovative product is something as ingenious as an ASIMO or something as game-changing as Google, it was tough to give myself permission to pursue my small but novel ideas seriously. And this was an issue.
So, I decided to pause and write down, in my words, what is the core meaning of innovation. I redefined innovation as ‘way(s) to solve a problem that has not been thought of/ implemented before.’ I told myself that innovation could mean something as simple as changing the dimensions of a product (Colgate Toothpaste) or something as complex as coming up with a new simulator to study the effects of product design variables on cutting rock at 10,000ft below the earth’s surface. This simple act of redefining what innovation meant to me changed my perspective. It empowered me to implement new solutions that I wouldn’t have pursued before. I have gone on to submit over six invention disclosures – the first step towards filing a patent – in just the past 24 months, creating value.
Sometimes we get carried away by the enormous amount of messaging we are surrounded by daily. Messaging such as ‘Google is innovative,’ ‘ground-breaking business model,’ and ‘this innovative technology is going to bring about a paradigm shift.’ Slowly, knowingly or unknowingly, we start believing these things to be accurate and redefining what innovation means. This is when we need to take a timeout and define what something means to us. The act of pausing and writing thoughts down might sound trivial to many, but it is something that I started to practice only recently, and I am so glad that I have. What is innovation to you?
Hello Kapilan, thank you for sharing. I have enjoyed following along with your posts and taking time to digest the topics discussed. I agree with your definition of innovation, and I would add that innovation doesn’t necessarily have to be solving a problem. I would venture to say that innovation can also be a way of viewing/categorizing/framing a problem that hasn’t been implemented before, or a way of combining existing ideas or topics in a new way, such as in art. Thank you for inspiring me to think deeper on this topic!
Hi Emily that is indeed an interesting viewpoint. Indeed innovation need not just be boxed into coming up with solutions to problems – ideas, such as art, can be just as innovative. Thanks for engaging with my content and sharing “What Is Innovation To You?”