This is a warning: I'm about as hot as the Antares A. (Google it!) I'm a little put off by a conversation with a colleague who emphatically proclaimed (at a well-attended gathering) that “innovation cannot be taught”. At the time (while nearly imploding on my inside self and maintaining cool and calm external self), I chose not to engage in a public verbal torch job. Instead, I reserved the right to post a flaming blog post! As I have stated in previous postings, I believe that my exposure to technology and scientific practices is on par (or even slightly more advanced than that of the average sea lion). With that said, I cannot recall ever being taught anything about innovation. When the word was even mentioned, it was cast as a vague reference to doing something “unique”. That kind of thinking is rampant within our educational institutions. We are taught the fundamentals of science and the scientific methods to describe how and why things work the way that they do, but is that innovation? With each experiment, the proverbial ball is advanced, but does that constitute innovation? While many people in our global society may never see the inside of a high-tech laboratory or be as fortunate to wear the white lab smock that screams “Look at me! I'm the geek that you seek”, does that mean that they are excluded from contributing to innovation? I think not, but the opposite notion was conveyed in my colleague's proclamation. Formally (according to famed author Everett Rogers), “Innovation is an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other adoption unit”. Are you thinking what I'm thinking at this point? While this statement has been studied and taken as truth for over a half a century, let's look at it in practical terms. An idea, is an idea. If no action is applied to make something of the idea, it remains an idea! Yes, I know. That is profound! Now, let's take the idea and subject it to the scientific process by developing a question about its applicability to a business domain, for instance. In addition, let's hypothesize that the successful implementation of the idea in that business domain could increase efficiencies by (let's say) ten percent over current practices. What have we just done here? We have applied some level of energy to the idea and put it into motion. Now, in the ideal case, the hypothesis is proven to be true and we arrive at an understanding that if we implement the idea in the business domain, we can realize the stated efficiency gains. There is one thing left to do. Put the idea into practice by adopting it (in whatever form is suitable) into the business domain. So, let's take a look at innovation with our newly learned concept. Using the geeky definition of innovation, we learned that if we just have an idea that is not acted upon, it will remain as an (unproductive) idea. The idea cannot be called an innovation unless it is adopted and put into practice and shows some advantage over the status quo. See!! Innovation can be taught! Now that we know about how to turn ideas into innovations, how do we get to the point of having ideas that should be considered? What a great question. Ideas come in all forms and from a variety of perspectives. Having a background in science is not a prerequisite for having an innovative idea. You just have to be able to recognize a need when it is seen or heard! How many times have you heard someone utter the words like the following examples:
These, my friends, are the seedlings of great ideas. Given the proper treatment, they could become the next “Hot Pocket” or “Swiffer”. In short, good ideas arise from needs expressed by people who have legitimate problems and suitable solutions do not yet exist. Such examples are fertile ground for people who are trained to pick up on these everyday statements and use them to formulate ideas that can lead to the next big innovation.
One of the biggest parts about innovation is that the idea (even if proven valuable by the scientific process) must overcome inertia. Inertia? Yes, inertia. Remember that lesson that Sir Isaac Newton learned as he sat unsuspectingly under an apple tree? An object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an equal and opposite force. That is Newton's Law. Okay, it's the one we will use as our example. In business terms, if my company is really known for producing phone booths and someone tries to get me to invest in this new thing called a cellular phone (to which I have no knowledge), my first question is to ask: “How does this allow me to sell more phone booths”? As far as innovation goes, this is what we call a pivotal moment. So, while this exaggerated example embodies an element of truth, it is given to illustrate a broader point. That point is about convincing people that the idea is viable in order to get it to be adopted.
Are you beginning to see that part that is missing from the formal science education, now? We learned all of the formulas and the methodologies for testing and evaluating. We just never learned the psychology of convincing people (especially business people) that our ideas would work well and benefit them in their respective lines of business. This level of skill to influence companies to entertain the adoption of an idea to become more efficient or to launch a new type of product is a conversation best introduced by those with “people skills”. Now, I'm not saying that people with backgrounds in the sciences, cannot take on this role. I've seen it done, … twice in my career. In short, most of us are simply not equally as talented in the sciences and business. Closing such a business deal takes us far away from the simple virtues of the original idea and away from the technical conversations about form and function. The conversation leads to production costs, marketability and distribution channels. These are topics for a future blog post.
Please remember that when someone says that innovation cannot be taught, just remind yourself that EVERYTHING you know as a human being has been taught to you! Of course, innovation can be taught. It can be taught to anyone, regardless of their respective backgrounds. If we learn this lesson early in our formative years, we will be far more open-minded and productive later in our respective careers. At this point, you can re-hang your fire extinguishers and call everyone back into the building.