INNOVATION opposing targets and intentions has increased .
Consequently , some organisations have lost their appetite for risk . In one discussion , the CEO of a multinational organisation told me : “ If I do what my competition does , my board cannot complain .” So let ’ s hope his competition is longing for innovation .
Such developments provoke questions about how industry and politics target certain topics and how well-balanced measures may be – and they certainly underline the need for innovation . Just in this example , carbon-neutrality will come at a cost and must be affordable or it may only happen on paper . The fact that ‘ green washing ’ became a term hints at how relevant fundamental innovation will be for the time to come .
What ’ s the difference ?
There is a huge difference between an invention and an innovation , but unfortunately quite a lot of organisations use the words as synonyms , with regrettable consequences . An invention is a technical process , well documented and in some way new . Such process may be kept in-house or it may be published in a patent or spread over the world in form of an article .
There are other aspects of patents to be taken into consideration , but this article is too short to elaborate on them .
Organisations tend to have different methods to deal with innovations and protecting them . Typically work contracts contain certain provisions to employees about confidentiality ; sometimes secrets are so well kept that they disappear with people .
One famous example is the German ceramics company with a worldfamous colour . For centuries , the secret was only handed over verbally from one porcelain-firing master to the next . The last master who knew the secret was not willing to accept any successor ( s ) and ended up working far beyond the normal retirement age . Eventually , he passed away and the secret was lost .
The company then had to bring in an expensive process to reinvent the colour and firing process , but never matched them . When we use the term ‘ reinventing the wheel ’ it is not only about inventing the same solution elsewhere , it can also mean recovering the knowledge an organisation had before but lost by chance .
Inventions are in most cases developed by technical departments , and are the result of creative use of skills and knowledge in a technical or technological field . The head of research and technology , engineering , technology or production will be the natural person in charge , regardless of how the company is organised . At C-suite level it may be the chief technology officer ( CTO ).
From time to time , I see titles like chief technology and innovation officer ( CTIO ) or chief innovation officer ( CIO ), and I wonder . When I talk to organisations , I often hear that they are somehow good at developing technologies , sometimes even new products , but they fail to market them properly . It does not seem too surprising to me . While invention is about new technologies or products , innovation is about market success .
Consumer acceptance
Organisations who innovate are successful in the market . The words ‘ invention ’ and ‘ innovation ’ are often used as synonyms , but they describe something different . Innovation is the process of being commercially successful with a new technology , process , product or service . There is a difference between an invention and a real innovation , which refers to completely new solutions accepted by consumers .
Some relevant innovations do not need inventions but careful listening . One of the best examples I ever witnessed was a meeting with the chief commercial officer of one of the largest organisations in a sector of the food market .
When we spoke about what they would expect from a partner , we learned quite a lot about what the relevant levers to improve the commercial performance of the organisation would be . We got a breakdown of cost structures and where they would not have a solution to shorten cleaning time between farming seasons . It was a discussion about their processes , a deep insight in cost structure and how to interact as a supplier with them to make them more profitable while selling .
During the debriefing after the meeting , my customer was ambivalent . He could see the relevance of this meeting and it went well . However , he was equally clear about the actual status of his organisation . As yet , they have not been ready to offer something more than a chemical and some instructions on how to use it .
The lever to sell more and to improve margins was not at all about a new product , partly about technological application questions but absolutely about switching a business from a product to a service . However , the organisation was not at all prepared to undergo such change in mentality . They have not been prepared to be innovative in the right way .
Now , it may be clearer that the use of ‘ invention ’ and ‘ innovation ’ as synonyms is misleading . A CTIO must
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