Connecting Innovation Dots

On his blog Medinnovation, Dr. Richard Reece discusses the interconnectedness of innovation across domains of innovation activity in this post.  It’s interesting to see his commentary on 10 coming medical innovations in this regard.  It is doubly so because this phenomenon is not unique to medical innovation.

Great and transformative innovation stem from the confluence of many different advances and observations.  The accumulation of knowledge into the global pool of information provides the water of life for innovation.  People seeking to find novel and valuable solutions to needs draw upon this fund of knowledge to synthesize new answers.  This is the act of innovation creativity in its pure form.

We should understand the consequence of this as it relates to driving sustainable innovation in the enterprise.  Knowledge worker need knowledge with which to work.  Connectedness to knowledge of all types is an essential ingredient to create the working environment needed to drive continuous, value creating innovation.  This must include seamless access to the enterprise’s internal knowledge, global knowledge from both inside and outside the company’s domain of expertise, and the tacit knowledge of team mates.

Have you ever noticed the degree of innovation serendipity?  It is not by chance that different people seem to be creating the same innovation at the same time.  Any really interesting, high value challenge is going to attract many potential innovators.  Don’t flatter yourself and think you are the only one working on your great project.  Also, many potential innovators have access to the same informational resources that you do.  This means there is a reasonable chance that when you find a great solution, you won’t be alone.

Yet, it is also the case that most potential innovators have the same poor access to knowledge that you do.  This means that you have an opportunity to create an innovation edge.  By investing in establishing the best innovation intelligence infrastructure—one that provides seamless access to all sources of knowledge when and how you need it—you can tilt the scales of innovation providence in your favor.

This is a key lesson that innovation leaders must take to heart.  You can influence the frequency and value of your innovation outcomes by making the right strategic investments in innovation infrastructure and methods.  As we begin to emerge from the past years of economic malaise, companies are all beginning to renew their innovation agenda.  Will you take the right steps to ensure that your innovation workers have the right tools to deliver the goods?

Comments

[Oleg Tumarkin]

But just because someone can come up with it, not everyone is positioned to take the innovation to market. The field of the potential innovators is actually fairly limited to the organizations that either possess or can attract the resources necessary to turn idea in to a true opportunity. The challenge is in identifying the right sized innovation for the capabilities.

[Oleg_tumarkin]

There is no question that any problem that bothers enough people will be studied by many different people who might well come up with similar solutions. Yet, in my mind, today's challenge is less about being the first to solve the problem and more about having the resources and determination to turn the solution in to revenue pipeline. An example of periodic table of elements comes to mind. Before Mendeleev there were others who published their attempts at periodic table, but the stuff they had was half-baked and they lacked Mendeleev's credentials. So, 20 years after the first publication on the topic Mendeleev publishes his version, that is admittedly much more thought through and complete than previous versions and that publication changes the field of chemistry for ever.
Picking the right problem is crucial, having the best information and information processing tools and techniques is crucial, but having the capacity to get it done right and to roll it out in the way that resonates is most crucial of all.
Think of ipad which came to a well established tablet PC market and blew it away, or facebook in a world where friendster and myspace were dominating the market. It's not the first mover who makes a fortune, but the company with the best execution.