What Is Innovation?
Innovation is different things to different people
To some, the future. To others, salvation.
Innovation is different things for different people. Some feel that innovation is simply developing new products and services. Introducing something new into the marketplace or improving something already out there. Others feel that its new ways of selling – new marketing methods – new markets for your products.
If you ask me, innovation is the forward movement of your company. It’s not what you are doing now; it’s what you are doing next.
A few months ago, I attended a talk with the noted author of the book Nextopia. It’s a great book; you should pick it up. It’s all about our obsession with whatever is next – how we get all excited in anticipation of a new product, or a new service, or the next revision of our current product (cue the scene of throngs of Apple Fans waiting in line for the latest and greatest iProduct, whether it’s great or not. We are not satisfied with what we have now – we are always on the lookout for what’s next – whether it’s the next Apple product or the next person we might meet on Tinder if we swipe.
Like the shark, who must always move forward to survive, so do modern business and modern humanity. We are no longer happy sitting. Still, we must always move forward, must always reach for what’s next.
Some people decry this – they say – if it ain’t broke, why fix it. Some people are happy to stay in a state, mindfully living in the current moment. Sure, you can do this. But you risk being passed by, as the world is not going to stop for you. Sometimes I get into discussions about the state of the world with others of my age group, and they decry the changes, saying that things are getting worse, that our world was better. Maybe it was for us, but the world is moving, humanity is rushing forward, and nothing will stop it. Things are changing, and the best we can do is to grab that wave and ride it.
The past is gone; the now comes too fast to do anything about. The only thing we can control is the future. And the future is coming at us faster and faster. That doesn’t mean that you can’t grab hold of it and hang on or even control it to a degree. We can help you do that.
You can control the future – you can decide where you will be – and it’s easier than ever before to take part in that future and not let it pass you by. All you have to do is invest in innovation. Come up with the ideas, build those ideas, and launch those ideas. Get them out into the world and let the world pick them up.
Innovation is the next logical step in your companies evolution. It is the future of your company, the shape of the product you will sell, and the way you will sell it.
It really is, innovate or die.
