Why innovation is not just about new ideas

Much is written in business about innovation and it usually means developing a new product, market, or service which the innovator hopes will take the world by storm and turn around an ailing company. Everyone from consumer goods manufacturers to budding entrepreneurs are looking for the “next big product” which will set the world (and their bank balances) alight.

 

The problem with this kind of innovation is that it’s ultimately an unwinnable race. Start-up companies and entrepreneurs who have spotted a niche and moved quickly to serve it will of course do well - until someone else reverse-engineers their product, out-prices them, or simply produces something that does the job better.

We tend to think of innovation as “doing new things,” whether it’s developing new products or services, entering new markets, or refining the way products and services are delivered to customers. We assume that all innovations are things which didn’t exist before, and exist now because we built them.

 

Wrong. I believe that this typical simplistic view completely ignores a critical element of the innovation equation; namely, that when we talk about innovation, we seldom talk about what we will stop doing.