Innovation is one of the most over used terms that I hear today, and I think most people don’t truly know what it means.
Wikipedia defines it as “Innovation is the application of new solutions that meet new requirements, inarticulate needs, or existing market needs“. I prefer the following definition;
Invention + Practical Application + Commercialisation = Innovation
- Invention: Something new & novel that did not exist before. It may be a piece of technology, a method, a process or anything new.
- Practical Application : Used for a particular or specific purpose that is meaningful.
- Commercialisation : An exchange for value (not always monetary). It may be increased revenue, reduced costs, better customer experience (internal or external), efficiencies or anything that you would consider valuable in your organisation.
For example; inventing a pen with an ink cartridge that is pressurised is not unto its own an innovation. Find a practical use for it, like the ability to write upside down or in space and the ability to find value in many areas such as more efficiencies in writing in space, or simply just selling it for a revenue and you have an INNOVATION. Welcome the Fisher Price Space Pen of 1965!