Innovation is not an event
The jury is still out for a common definition of what innovation is for business. However, most definitions seem to combine three concepts:
- facing a specific challenge;
- executing a novel idea;
- presenting a resulting value.
And indeed, the business innovation stories we like to hear about involve a big leap forward in at least one of these elements: the drug that will finally cure cancer, the idea that will rock our world or the next overnight billion-dollar-valuation.
Thankfully, running a successful business does not rely on these quantum leaps, otherwise, there would be very few businesses out there. The reality is rather that companies face new challenges every day and some of them succeed in transforming these challenges into opportunities to create additional value.
The point is: innovation does not just “happen” as a rare event in a sea of business-as-usual. A company does indeed from time to time need these big steps that will make its history and move it forward. But it constantly needs that little incremental value creation to stay relevant and ensure its survival. And that is on any professional, on any given day.
Effective innovation comes from the relentless efforts of everyone in the organisation to use everyday challenges as opportunities to create value through new ways of working.
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