Discussion: View Thread

Innovation fits on a continuum Spontaneity, Creativity, Innovation,
Invention and Mental Masturbation.
Innovation is purposeful (aka goal-seeking) creativity with essentially no a
priori constraints on permissible solutions (aka thinking outside the box).
Invention is Innovation constrained by convention (making the box bigger).

An Innovator sees things not for what they are but for what they do or can
do. Secondly, an innovator does not score highly in "plays well with
others"

Innovation management creating an environment and providing that nourishment
that fosters creativity, creates clear awareness of purpose or goal and
assures the 'generators' that lots of little errors are valuable.

You can read a lot of books about innovation as you can about composing
music or painting pictures but if you decide to do that pick one written by
an innovator rather than just an observer. Innovation tends to be tacit and
inexplicable, though experienceable.

> Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 08:45:15 -0600
> From: Gary Lundquist <garyl@market-engineering.com>
> Subject: Definition of Innovation
>
> Colleagues,
>
> I've accepted chairmanship of The Colorado Innovation Summit - lots of
work
> for not much pay.
>
> When I started, I thought I knew what "innovation" is. Now I've seen the
> word used in many different ways.
>
> I would appreciate your insights.
> What is innovation?
> What characterizes an innovator?
> What is innovation management?
>
> Thank you.
>
> Gary

I've been interested in the range of definitions but I'd like to stress the
"business" side rather than the straight creativity side. To me innovation
implies more than invention; it relates to the effective transfer of
invention to the marketplace. Innovators are those who have the
entrepreneurial capacity to take new ideas, products and services, identify
their business potential and support them to allow them to grow and succeed.
I suppose I'm defining it as successful applied research rather than the
"blue sky" research which may in turn lead to innovation.

Best wishes

Lynn Martin

Lynn.martin@uce.ac.uk
Dr L M Martin
Senior Academic, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
UCE Business School
Perry Barr
Birmingham, B42 2SU, UK
00441213317796/5000


-----Original Message-----
From: Jack Ring
To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
Sent: 27/04/03 05:40
Subject: Re: MG-ED-DV Innovation

Innovation fits on a continuum Spontaneity, Creativity, Innovation,
Invention and Mental Masturbation.
Innovation is purposeful (aka goal-seeking) creativity with essentially
no a
priori constraints on permissible solutions (aka thinking outside the
box).
Invention is Innovation constrained by convention (making the box
bigger).

An Innovator sees things not for what they are but for what they do or
can
do. Secondly, an innovator does not score highly in "plays well with
others"

Innovation management creating an environment and providing that
nourishment
that fosters creativity, creates clear awareness of purpose or goal and
assures the 'generators' that lots of little errors are valuable.

You can read a lot of books about innovation as you can about composing
music or painting pictures but if you decide to do that pick one written
by
an innovator rather than just an observer. Innovation tends to be tacit
and
inexplicable, though experienceable.

> Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2003 08:45:15 -0600
> From: Gary Lundquist <garyl@market-engineering.com>
> Subject: Definition of Innovation
>
> Colleagues,
>
> I've accepted chairmanship of The Colorado Innovation Summit - lots of
work
> for not much pay.
>
> When I started, I thought I knew what "innovation" is. Now I've seen
the
> word used in many different ways.
>
> I would appreciate your insights.
> What is innovation?
> What characterizes an innovator?
> What is innovation management?
>
> Thank you.
>
> Gary

Colleagues,

Lynn Martin wrote: To me innovation implies more than invention; it relates
to the effective transfer of invention to the marketplace.

This is part of why I am seeking a range of viewpoints on innovation and
innovation management.

Some see innovation as creativity. I tend to put that under invention.

Some see it as reduction of an idea to practice. That means work done
in R&D environments can be considered innovation if efforts results in a
working prototype (technology, process, etc.)

Some see it as reduction to a product (service, etc.) in target markets.
That would mean that academia, federal labs, etc., must transfer their
technologies to commercial companies to complete innovation. That people
and teams in academia might be innovative, but not innovators. But then,
would commercialization teams be the innovators? Must one do it all to be
an innovator?

As I speak to people about The Colorado Innovation Summit, I get all three
views. Thus my three questions:
What is innovation?
What characterizes an innovator?
What is innovation management?

I'm still searching.



----------------------------
Change will never, ever again
be as slow as it is today.

Gary Lundquist - The Accelerator
303-840-9929 www.market-engineering.com
garyl@market-engineering.com

The science of
making and keeping satisfied customers,
at a profit, over time,
in a competitive environment.

Xerox is a famous innovator, developed the mouse, the GUI and many more
ideas. Unfortunately, their spirit of innovation did not translate into
sales and profits. It was left to companies such as Apple and Microsoft,
which are often thought of as innovative, who are not innovators as much as
they were/are managers of innovation.

Those companies took a creative concept and managed it's presentation and
acceptance. They managed the evolution of an innovative idea through the
application and implementation stages.

Innovation is a creative concept but the value of innovation lies in
applying the concept to resolve a problem.

Can there be innovation w/o application? Certainly. Will that innovation
be valued by society until there is an application? Probably not.

I remember being a kid (now 48 yrs old) and seeing one of the first
telephones that also sent your picture. That was innovation that languished
until the infrastructure (satellites and cable and internet) grew to support
that ability. Even video conferencing/webinars languished until 9/11, and
now SARS, created an environment that valued that method of communication
more than exposing employees to the now perceived problem of dangerous
travel conditions. The value of the innovation wasn't realized until the
environment evolved to create a niche that needed filling.

Christie Mason

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Lundquist" <garyl@market-engineering.com>
To: <MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2003 6:24 AM
Subject: Re: MG-ED-DV Innovation


Colleagues,

Lynn Martin wrote: To me innovation implies more than invention; it relates
to the effective transfer of invention to the marketplace.

This is part of why I am seeking a range of viewpoints on innovation and
innovation management.

Some see innovation as creativity. I tend to put that under invention.

Some see it as reduction of an idea to practice. That means work done
in R&D environments can be considered innovation if efforts results in a
working prototype (technology, process, etc.)

Some see it as reduction to a product (service, etc.) in target markets.
That would mean that academia, federal labs, etc., must transfer their
technologies to commercial companies to complete innovation. That people
and teams in academia might be innovative, but not innovators. But then,
would commercialization teams be the innovators? Must one do it all to be
an innovator?

As I speak to people about The Colorado Innovation Summit, I get all three
views. Thus my three questions:
What is innovation?
What characterizes an innovator?
What is innovation management?

I'm still searching.



----------------------------
Change will never, ever again
be as slow as it is today.

Gary Lundquist - The Accelerator
303-840-9929 www.market-engineering.com
garyl@market-engineering.com

The science of
making and keeping satisfied customers,
at a profit, over time,
in a competitive environment.