Blog Post

Applied innovation can refer to either 1) the process of learning innovation through the application of the innovation process in a controlled environment or it can refer to 2) simply providing the action to creative ideas.

1) The process of learning innovation through the application of the innovation process in a controlled environment. This can often take place in a team-based workshop type environment.

The goal is often to provide a platform in which people can practice creative thinking, teamwork and apply new product innovation in a controlled and monitored environment in such a way that the gap between innovation theory and actual practice is reduced and therefore learning’s are more easily applied when the individual returns to their organizational environment.

Action-based learning for many individuals proves to be more rewarding and memorable.

People learn to challenge the status quo, formulate new ideas, foster a culture of innovation and apply organizational best practices and work together to bring ideas to fruition.

2) Applied innovation is the application of innovation to creative ideas. Ideas can spend years sitting dormant in an organization. Great ideas that are just sat there with no one willing to take responsibility and do anything with them.

That said innovation is not straightforward and to be successful it often requires a team of people stemming from different departments in the organization to manage the effort.

Often the teams will follow an appropriate innovation management process to help direct them to the production of their new innovative products or services. Creativity and ideas alone are not sufficient.

Many organizations feel that they lack creative talent however there is usually no shortage of creative people, what actually is lacking is people skilled in the innovation management process who can effectively implement an idea into a project which can be managed through to a successful conclusion.

Companies often over-invest in the creativity arena without providing enough focus on improving core innovative abilities. For example funding courses on creativity techniques. It is incorrect to assume that improved creativity will automatically result in increased innovation.

Creative ideas usually need to be aligned with the organization’s core strategic directions and then backed up with clear project implementation goals.

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For me, I usually get my best ideas as soon as I wake up in the morning. I used to keep a pen and paper by the side of my bed so I could record these ideas but I now use my smartphone instead.

For many others their best ideas come while they are in the shower, taking a bath, listening to music or when they are walking the dog.

I think the key here is that ideas seem to come from your subconscious mind. At moments when you have no stress or worries and no pressing tasks or needs. Basically to be at your most creative you need time and space to think without distractions. Ideas never seem to come when you feel under pressure to come up with something or when you’re hard at work doing some analysis for your place of work.

So if you need to come up with an idea quickly think of things that you do automatically or things that you do that you enjoy and make you feel relaxed. There is lots of noise in our daily lives – things are always popping in and out of our minds… Collecting the kids from school, taking your suit to the dry cleaners, what we can have for dinner tonight, how will I complete that report in time, etc., etc.

So you need to find ways to distract all of that noise. Try meditating or take a walk to your local coffee shop.

Think hard about what you are doing when your best ideas come to you and perhaps go do it now!

Many people think that creative solutions come about purely by luck or chance. While this is true in a few situations it is rarely the case for the majority.

Most creative solutions come about as a result of lots of hard work and perseverance. New creative breakthroughs are often the result of hours upon hours of trial and error from people who are not afraid to fail.

Such people use failure as a means to reflect and learn from. New learning gives way to new skills and knowledge, which in turn provides new ways to experiment. Rarely do things fall into place easily. Successful people understand that failing is part of success.

It is hard work that brings creativity and therefore I would say that the creative solutions equation is…

Hard work + Perseverance = Creative Solutions

In order to achieve such a level of effort though you should consider channeling your efforts into an area that you are passionate about; passion can make days feel like hours and hours feel like minutes.

Passion also makes hard work feel like a joy.

Go to your local library and read the biographies of some successful people that inspire your or that you respect. This might be a great motivator to get you started on the path to your very own successful creative solutions. Good luck.

Technology enables us to automate many processes and do things much more quickly, as a result, we find that the latest greatest product suddenly has many, very similar competing products also on the market.

Take the recent surge in tablet computers as an example. Apple releases the iPad and then within a year, there are hundreds of other tablet-based computers to choose from. Many of which are very similar to each other. When products or services become too similar customers then choose what they want to buy based on how much they cost. For businesses, a lower price means lower profits, margins, etc.

In the modern world, companies have to constantly keep innovating in order to avoid differentiating solely on price. Having a different product means you can demand a higher price. Until once again that innovation itself has too many imposters – and then once again the cycle has to begin again with yet more innovation.

The key to product/service differentiation and increased revenues/profits is, therefore, to keep innovating with either a radical innovation (something completely new) or an incremental innovation (an incremental improvement to an existing product or service or modification to enable it to be used for a different purpose).

This process of innovating to keep your products and/or services ahead of the rest begins with creativity.

So creativity from a business perspective is about thinking about what could be different in a product or service. How can something change while still remaining relevant and meaningful to the customer? Customers have needs and products and services are there to meet those needs. What can you do different and still meet those needs? Creativity needs to be based on solving problems and adding value to the customer.

How do you add value to a product or service? Better, quicker, smaller, faster, larger, less functional, more functional, louder, brighter, etc., etc.

Today’s world requires lots of creativity and lots of creative ideas to be transformed into useful innovative products and services.

Creativity and innovation make the world go round. Turning new ideas into products and services are great for social and economic growth.

So how can you contribute? What can you do to make a difference?

Think about where you work – is there anything that frustrates you or perhaps something that the customers of the business are always complaining about? Some thing or some process that isn\’t quite right? Is there anything you can do to fix it?

What about a hobby or passion that you have outside of work? Is there something or some skill from that hobby that you could transfer or apply to your work?

Realize that things are always changing so why not let yourself be the one who initiates the changes.

If you’re still stuck for ideas then team up with some close work colleagues and do a brainstorming session together. Perhaps you can work together towards initiating change within your workplace.

Get started now and make a difference.