MARKETING EVOLUTION
Thoughts On Innovation
By Marion Wakahe
When the winds of change blow , some people build walls and others build windmills - Ancient Chinese Proverb .
The words innovation , innovate , innovative are ubiquitous especially now in an age of rapid changes . In Darwin ’ s famous theory of evolution , survival depends on the ability to change and adapt . Those species that don ’ t adapt to an altering environment simply die out . Instinctively , every one of us knows this .
There are many who don ’ t agree with Darwin ’ s theory of evolution , but no one will dispute the need to adjust and adapt to a changing environment . This applies not just to flora and fauna but to organizations , institutions , and governments .
Given the splash of these words - as of November 2022 , a Google search on the word innovation yielded 3,390,000,000 results - it ’ s easy to overlook them . Almost like a broken record , one can lose interest .
Another one of those words we hear time and again is leadership and its associates . ‘ Laws on
Leadership , The Leader Who Had No Title , Leaders Eat Last , Leader Shift , Leadership ,’ are just some titles written on the subject . Leadership yielded 5,470,000,000 results in the same time frame .
Recently , however , I have engaged with the term innovation in-depth , and I can attest to the fact that there is nothing irrelevant , boring , or insipid about innovation . And I am truly grateful for the reminder . That shake was necessary and the key takeaway from the whole process for me was to never rest on my laurels .
So , what is innovation exactly ? Many definitions are given . Some of my favorite include :
• The application of IDEAS that are novel and useful ( David Burkus ).
• The fundamental way the company brings constant value to their customer ’ s business or life , and consequently their shareholders and stakeholders ( Paul Hobcraft ).
• A new or changed entity realizing or redistributing value ( ISO 56000:2020 ).
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Given the leaps humanity has made over the centuries , it ’ s hard to imagine what lies ahead but we can rest assured that there ’ s still plenty of room for ideas to improve ourselves and the world we live in . Even better is that we have the capacity to generate these ideas and put the systems in place to make them a reality .
• New organic value creation by applying creativity , in-depth relationships with consumers and customers , and new thinking ( Michael Graber ).
Innovation comes from the Latin words in and novare meaning , “ to make something new , to change .” Today , innovation has the added expectation of value addition . That it ’ s not enough that something is new but that it must add value to its end consumer is the reason for my preference of the definitions above . A simple conclusion is that innovation is ‘ ideas implemented that add value .’
Ideas won ’ t keep , something must be done about them - Alfred North Whitehead .
Over the years people have improved their livelihoods through innovation in the fields of healthcare , transport , learning , agriculture , construction , amongst others . Given the leaps humanity has made over the centuries , it ’ s hard to imagine what lies ahead but we can rest assured that there ’ s still plenty of room for ideas to improve ourselves and the world we live in . Even better is that we have the capacity to generate these ideas and put the systems in place to make them a reality .
Innovation matters across industries and fields , in business specifically , innovation brings the advantages of : Remaining competitive and relevant ultimately avoiding obsoletion ; Creating competitive advantage and differentiation ; Keeping up with customer demands , preferences , and trends ; Taking advantage of technological changes to improve ; Reduced expenses ; Increased revenue and revenue streams ; Improved efficiencies ; Improved organizational and brand image ; Increased market share ; and Being able to attract investors , employees , and partners .
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