What is Innovation? 3 Things You and Your Business Needs to Know to Keep being Innovative and Stay Ahead

Let’s start with a word that makes almost everyone anxious: change. Part of being innovative is to embrace, drive and welcome change.

Innovation does not stay still. It is constantly moving. Innovation occurs in every type of organisation, even non-profit and government entities. As a business model ages, it will eventually fail unless there’s some sort of change or evolution.

In this fast-paced 21st century, disruptions are occurring in every industry. Innovation is the only constant capable of keeping any business ahead of the game.

Businesses that look to innovate need to understand that:

1. Failure is at the core of innovation. Innovation does not just happen. It takes patience, persistence and a lot of experimentation. This translates to a lot of failures. If innovation is easy, it is not innovation.
   
2. Strike a healthy balance between BAU and innovation endeavours. Focus on one or the other too much will result in failure in the present (too innovation heavy) or failure in the future (lack of drive to innovate).
   
3. Timing is everything. Determining whether the audience (or world) is ready can be tricky, however it is of utmost importance. A disruptive product / service launching too early or too late is not going to be disruptive.

Innovation is not ideas. Ideation may be part of the innovation process however it does not have to be. Many organisations think that their lack of innovation is directly related to the lack of ideas. This is incorrect. Most of the time ideas are already there; many people lack the mindset to notice, pick them out and see them through.

Innovation is about driving change. Innovation is the future. Innovators drive change to achieve a singular focus or vision, treading into uncharted territory in order to achieve them. The only guide lights they have are assumptions that need to be constantly re-evaluated and the vision to which they are pursuing in this very journey.

What you do not know does not kill you, the biggest silent killer is the lack of drive to change.

What are you doing in your organisation to drive change and be innovative?