An Introduction to Innovation Identifying opportunities: What is innovation?
by Marvin Cheung, Head of Research and Strategy
Consider these three excerpts:
1. Excerpt from Howard Becker’s essay “Creativity is not a scarce commodity”
“We ordinarily call an action or an object creative when we think it’s unusual, different from what other people would do or produce given the same problem to solve. We also mean, though we usually state this thought less explicitly, that the idea is not foolish or silly or unworkable, at least not in principle. When ideas seem silly or foolish or unworkable to us, we don’t call them ‘creative’. We use some less approving word, like ‘dumb’ or ‘weird’ or ‘useless’. [..]
Ordinary observation shows us that what is scarce is not the fact of creativity—of some kind of activity unlike what others have done before—but rather the activity of labeling something ‘creative.' If we look around us in the most ordinary situations of daily life we see people being creative—doing original things no one ever did quite that way before—all the time. Once we separate the originality of an idea or an action, as seen from a conventional viewpoint, from the judgment others make of its originality and creativity, we can look for expressions of creativity everywhere. We will find them.”
2. Excerpt from Robert Friedel’s essay “Serendipity is no accident”
“In science there are at least three distinctive forms of serendipity. [...] The types may be characterized with names that suggest their most significant historical associations: Columbian, Archimedean, and Galilean. Columbian serendipity is the most straightforward. When one is looking for one thing, but finds another thing of value, and recognizes that value [...] In his own mind, he thought that he had found just what he had been looking for, a better route to the Indies. But the result - the European knowledge of the New World - is still intimately associated with his efforts. [...] Archimedean serendipity is just as important to science and technology, although it is often less readily recognized. [...] He did not take a bath with solving that problem as his immediate goal, but the solution - accidentally derived - was evident to him nonetheless and was indeed much sought after. [...] This was, in fact, something he had been seeking for almost ten years, although the act of discovery was itself ‘accidental’ [...] Galilean serendipity is less widely recognized as ‘accidental’ [...] When Galileo pointed the optics of a good spyglass towards the heavens, it is not clear what he expected to see. [...] Time and again in science we see this facility for using new instruments or capabilities to generate surprises.”
3. Excerpt from Peter Drucker’s essay “Sources of innovation”
“Consider, first, the easiest and simplest source of innovation opportunity: the unexpected success or failure. [...] Incongruities are the next source of innovation opportunity. [...] Such an incongruity within the logic or rhythm of a process is only one possibility out of which innovation opportunities may arise. [...] Another source is incongruity between economic realities. For instance, whenever an industry has a steadily growing market but falling profit margins. [...] An incongruity between expectations and results can also open up for innovation. [...] The next innovation opportunity is process need - that is perfecting an already existing process by replacing a weak link or creating a new link. [...] Another source of innovation opportunity is industry and market changes. [...] New opportunities rarely fit the way the industry has always approached the market, defined it or organized to serve it. [...] Of all the innovation opportunities, demographics are among the most reliable. That’s because demographic events have known lead times; for instance, every person who will be in the American labor force by the year 2035 has already been born. [...] A change in perception does not alter facts. It changes their meaning, though - and very quickly. [...] What determines whether people see a glass as half full or half empty is mood rather than fact, and a change in mood often defies quantification. [...] Among history-making innovations, those that are based on new knowledge - whether scientific, technical or social - rank high. [...] Knowledge-based innovations differ from all others, however, in the time they take, in their casualty rates and in their predictability as well as in the challenge they pose. Like most superstars, they can be temperamental, capricious and hard to direct. And they have the longest lead time of all innovations - often decades.”
Worksheet: “Brainstorming Startup Ideas”
Access here: 1. Starting a New Venture Workbook