INNOVATION
The best ideas lose their owners
By Senorine Wasike
There is a famous phrase about ideas from one of the wisest men to ever live - King Solomon , who wrote reflections about life before his death in 931 BC . “ There is nothing new under the sun .” He posited . “ What has been will be again , and what has been done , will be done again .”
Entrepreneurs and innovators are obsessed with ideas as seeds of what could become a game-changer and eventually bring commercial value to the ideator . Consequently , ideas are closely guarded to ensure that another person does not ‘ steal ’ them or make them their own .
So , where do all ideas that seem new to the world come from ? Why the obsession with owning ideas , and is there a better approach to idea ownership ?
Innovation happens when ideas are pieced together in newer forms . The logical , traditional way of thinking ( common wisdom ) makes people complacent , blinding them to new possibilities . The obsession with common wisdom may have led to the death of formerly great companies such as Kodak and given birth to firms such as Airbnb , Uber , and Netflix . Often , great ideas are attributed to secluded moments commonly referred to as light bulb or ‘ aha ’ moments , but this is not entirely true . Recent research proves that bouncing off ideas among people with different backgrounds and interests spurs innovation .
The Obsession of Owning Ideas
Idea generation uses brainstorming to collect as many ideas as possible . To get the best ideas , some are combined while others are deprioritized . Some of the brainstorming workshops reward the best ideas , which can result in idea obsession . An idea ’ s success can also result in the need to claim ownership . People will shun projects that fail but would want to be associated with successful ones .
“ Entrepreneurs and innovators are obsessed with ideas as seeds of what could become a game-changer and eventually bring commercial value to the ideator . Consequently , ideas are closely guarded to ensure that another person does not ‘ steal ’ them or make them their own . ”
Many organizations credit individuals for being ideators , and while we could argue that individuals need to be recognized , much refinement of original ideas is what gives birth to gamechanging innovations . The adoption of open innovation is an example of how corporates have ‘ let go ’ of their internal ideas and opened up to outsiders to allow for crosspollination of ideas . P & G credited its ability to triple the company ’ s innovation success rate in the early 2000 ’ s to adopting an open innovation model .
A better Approach
An idea is only valuable if it is used . The execution of the idea is everything , meaning that key actions must be linked to the idea and follow-up done to bring the idea to life . An excellent example of taking an existing idea and executing it differently is Tiktok . The video-sharing app was launched after
YouTube but has gained popularity among the users as it allows content creators to make good-looking videos with minimum effort . The short videos are easily downloadable , allowing for viral sharing on other social media platforms such as Instagram .
It is fair to conclude that most ideas exist already , but what makes these ideas appear new to us is how they are refined over time and executed . The advancement in technology has posed a significant challenge to the ownership of ideas . In a rapidly changing market environment , the first to commercialize the idea claims ownership . Some of the most successful launches prove that the best ideas lose their owners and take on lives of their own ( Nolan Bushnell ). ■
Senorine Wasike is a Strategy and Innovation scholar with over 10 years ’ corporate experience . She currently heads innovations at Kenya Wine Agencies ( KWAL ). Commune with her on email at :
senorine . wasike @ gmail . com
4
MAL 44 / 21 ISSUE