INNOVATION
Debunking Innovation
Myths
I
nnovation is often confused with
invention. Most people argue that
innovations are new things that have
never existed before. I would say that
innovation and invention are distinctively
different.
Two change leaders, Thomas Edison and
Steve Jobs offer clarity on the distinction
between invention and innovation.
Thomas Edison was an inventor. He
introduced the light bulb for the first
time. Steve Jobs was an innovator who
created value through new thinking and
incremental improvements.
Majority of businesses believe that
in a rapidly changing competitive
environment, innovation offers the key
to unlocking profits beyond organic
growth. Despite this belief, there are many
myths surrounding innovation, which if
debunked, would offer businesses better
chances of succeeding at innovating.
The Inventor Myth
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison,
Alexander Graham Bell, Nikola Tesla,
By Senorine Wasike
Achimedes, Lernardo Da Vinci and
Alexander Fleming are some of the
greatest inventors of all time. These past
inventors remain a constant source of
inspiration for innovation today.
Companies seeking innovation success
do not have to reinvent the wheel or be
invention geniouses. Innovative thinking
allows companies to build on existing
ideas, approaches and technologies. This
together with a little inspiration from
the greatest inventors is the magic wand
organizations need to innovate.
First-Mover Advantage
First-Mover Advantage (FMA) is a
concept that many businesses have
adopted as a way of gaining and sustaining
competitive advantage.
FMA assumes that being the first to
launch a new product or service gives a
company an advantage over other players
within a competitive market through
factors such economies of scale, brand
loyalty and consumer loyalty. Whereas
companies can gain dominance for a
Companies seeking innovation success do
not have to reinvent the wheel or be inven-
tion geniouses. Innovative thinking allows
companies to build on existing ideas, ap-
proaches and technologies. This together
with a little inspiration from the greatest
inventors is the magic wand organizations
need to innovate.
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period of time,
FMA is becoming
unsustainable.
A lot of market firsts, considered as
dominant, continue to pave way for less
dominant companies that come in later
after them. The less dominant companies
learn from the mistakes of the pioneers
and therefore enjoy minimal failure rate
giving these companies a better chance
of succeeding. These companies enjoy the
‘free riders effect’ because they are less
likely to invest huge amounts of money
in research and development, advertising
and promotion. Does it really pay to be
the first?
The Big Launch Myth
Many businesses believe in launching
big to enable the company to generate
the much-needed buzz about the new
offering. A giant kickoff event offers a
great head start for successful innovations
but does not guarantee innovation success.
A lot of work happens after the launch to
ensure that the ideas are well executed.
This means that beyond the launch
razzmatazz, great execution must follow,
measured and course correction done to
guarantee successful commercialization.
global innovation thought leader, there
exists two innovation sweet spots. The
first sweet spot falls within the growth
phase of the product life cycle. The other
sweet spot falls in the decline phase when
the brand needs to reinvent itself.
Some companies innovate when they
must, usually because of the need to stem
performance decline. These companies
are reactive innovators. Companies that
are most successful in innovation actively
seek to innovate and do so when the
brands or products are in growth phase.
Innovations Must Be
Grounded In Consumer
Insight
Innovation Solves Brand Or
Product Issues Consumer insight is a window that allows
businesses to understand their customers
through interpretation of data, purchase
behaviors, beliefs and needs. This process
allows businesses to improve product
offering (innovations) to their target
consumers.
Marketers can attest to having been
challenged to innovate around a declining
brand in order to fix issues faced by the
brand. According to Gijs Van Wulfen, a Whereas it is true that consumers are at
the core of innovations, great innovations
must also be grounded in a business
insight. Most scholars have argued that
if you get the consumer insight right,
the money will come through, however,
the commercial lense remains critical in
actualizing ideas. A great innovation must
therefore have both the consumer insight
and the commercial insight that will
transform ideas into money.
Innovation is for innovators
A story is told of a CEO who struggled
to get a solution for managing traffic at
the elevators during early mornings and
late evenings when staff reported to work
and left for home in the evening. The
best architects and engineers proposed
that a hole be drilled through an internal
wall and an extra elevator installed. The
disruption was going to be massive and
affect normal business operations.
One evening as the CEO waited at the
elevator, he asked the administration
manager whether there had been any new
proposals that could help solve the issue
without the anticipated disruption. A
janitor who was busy cleaning the hallway
told the CEO. “But it is simple. Just install
the elevator outside the building.”
A lot of times, ideas are all around us,
but there is need to collaborate more
and refine these ideas because there is
no master innovator or inventor for that
matter. All great ideas are refined by
others and delivery of these ideas is only
possible through collaboration.
Bring it all together
The innovation myths discussed in this
article have a level of truth with regards to
innovation but there is need to question
and challenge these myths often to ensure
that businesses drive better and successful
innovations. Debunking these myths
allows innovators to think differently
about the business situations that they
face. A new way of thinking allows for
creativity enabling the team, like Nike -
To Just Do It. To innovate.
Senorine Wasike is an innovation
champion with over 10 years’
experience in FMCG, currently
working as the Innovation
Commercialization Manager at
Kenya Breweries Limited. You can
commune with her on this or related
matters via email at: Senorine.
[email protected].