The 3 aspects that distinguish innovation from improvement

Nikola Tesla with his invention, a wireless lightbulb powered by the electric field surrounding it. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Have you noticed the increased use of the word "innovation" over the last few years?  A decade ago the buzz word was "improvements" but its meaning was successfully killed by overusing it in all the wrong contexts. 
Before I get to the difference between innovation and improvement, I want to touch on the subtle difference between the words innovation and invention :

• Invention is the formulation of new ideas and concepts
• Innovation is about the practical application of inventions to build new products, services, processes.

Even though both activities are highly intertwined I believe a certain amount of "genius" is required for inventing.  An innovator can already be successful having an open mind, a willingness to explore new concepts and a healthy disregard for the impossible.  Basically, anyone has the potential to be an innovator which is a good thing because it allows us to apply the inventions in different ways with maximum benefit.

Now what exactly are those 3 aspects that set innovation apart from improvement?

1. True added value for HUMANITY not for convenience

This is my personal favorite.  Humanity in this context also covers our habitat (the lump of dirt we live on, flora, fauna...) and the interactions we have with it (atmosphere, space, temperature, fellow humans and non-humans,...).  
I will not go into the philosophical concept of what humanity needs in terms of value but I guess we can agree that love, stability, security and welfare cover a large portion.
As a ground rule, we should never build anything that we know could/would reduce that true value but given the situation as it is, some older stuff needs to get fixed.  The convenience-drive has seriously deteriorated our life but we chose to turn a blind eye and/or defer our problems to others.  Some examples:

• in Q1, 2012, we all bought 20,3 mio tablets - stacked flat this is a 190km tower.  Even though manufacturers claim they are fully recyclable since 2010, I still haven't seem a working process for collecting, processing and separating the components because as a starter, I don't know where to drop off an older tablet nor do the recycle guys I talked to know what to do with it except burn it.
• In Europe, cars used to 'last longer' which is actually our perception of faithful use. Contemporary cars are of better quality than ever and yet after 4 years of use they get tossed out.  How come?  In the 70's we had to process and pile up the junk ourselves which meant that every big city had a landfill with scrap heaps, junk cars... and that was an embarrassing sight.  More recently, we discovered that we could manipulate public opinion in less developed countries that owning stuff like a car is a means of showing your value, so they gladly accept our - still running - old car models.  No more scrap heaps in Western Europe but elsewhere they are starting to realize what happened...
• The amount of light in doors and outdoors increases exponentially.  Using your tv, laptop, tablet...  in the evening breaks down your biological clock, keeping you even longer awake than your body wants to.  I live in a suburb and we have a lot of birds in the area.  Unfortunately we also have much light pollution which keeps them awake all night.
• How about our communication innovations? Texting, smart phones, Whatsapp,... actually accomplish the opposite of their intent: we spend less time face to face, hiding behind screens upholding the illusion that we have more friends than ever.  People have never felt so alone.

This list can go on and on but my main point is this: if you want to change something, make sure it is the right thing to change and that it is worthwhile changing.  In the latter example, the issue was not the means of communication but the increasing speed at which we are forcing ourselves to live, allowing less time to interact with others in a personal and social sense.  Basically we innovated the communication process and completely ignored the end result - the impact on our society.

2. REVOLUTIONARY not evolutionary

I have a design background and as such I have been pushed to invent or create truly new stuff.  This started during my college years and I am eternally grateful that our professors really pushed us to get the "old ways and conformist thinking" out of our system.  At the age of 18 we got a mental reboot that allowed us to rethink form and function and get out of the design rut.  As Einstein said: " We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them".

• Consider the typical train of thought when it comes to material use for construction.  The main factors are cost, own weight and strength, so for building larger walls, floors... one would use more material or a stronger material.  The concept that lead to the hollow sandwich constructions typically found in cardboard was a revolutionary step to lighter and cheaper materials.
• The freemium revenue model as an idea might have been thought up last century but it took an innovator with persistence and drive to venture out and take the plunge, transforming the idea into a process and leading the way for many to follow.

The revolutionary aspect provides you significant differentiation from the rest (of the competition).  An innovation will make you stand out, will truly solve a problem or internal contradiction and will give you an advantage over your peers/competition.The disruptive impact of innovation can kill the competition whereas an improvement will be a logical next step that anyone could have thought of.

3. LEAD the way

Innovation is about creating that breakaway differentiation that Geoffrey Moore describes as "an outcome competitors are either unable or unwilling to match" in his book "Dealing with Darwin".

The outcome of an innovation is unique in scope, depth and returns, and despite the possible financial gains that can be achieved, your competition will have a hard time catching up.

Conclusion: 

Given that an innovation has a bigger impact than an improvement, it is crucial to validate your assumptions in terms of problem analysis, resulting changes and longer term consequences.

• Make sure you will deliver true value which will make you stand out.
• Take the time to explore new ways of thinking to escape the common improvement-cycle.
• Be proud to lead with your result and don't ignore the impact you have on your environment and the world.

Understand that the same people touting 'improvements' are now shouting 'innovation' so don't believe everything you hear and read.  Innovation requires a different approach, has a different process and will yield different results - sometimes more fails than gains - but the end result will be worthwhile the effort.
In upcoming blogs I will talk more about the 'HOW' of innovation, the 'WHAT' has been covered sufficiently in most of the other blogs around.


Final thought: 
In a very simplified view on life we can divide the population into builders and maintainers. So why do companies hire 'Innovation Managers' when there is no innovation to manage yet?  The strategy needs to be defined, processes developed, insight and awareness needs to be raised and problems need definition.  Are you sure your innovation manager is trained to do this hands-on or is he just using fancy words?