Innovation Defined

by Bill McHenry, President and CEO of Widgeteer, Inc.

in.no.va.tion (ine’vaSHen) noun: the action or process of innovating.

Synonyms: change, alteration, revolution, upheaval, transformation, metamorphosis, breakthrough. 

Everything that exists came from an idea. A seed that blossomed. A vision in the mind brought to life by will and determination in the heart to make that dream come true. From the simplest Widget to the Taj Mahal, it takes INNOVATION to create it…to see ways of improving upon that which already exists.

Innovation seems to be the buzz word of our generation…and there’s a good reason why. Read the definition. If we are not changing, altering, revolutionizing, up heaving, transforming, creating metamorphoses, and making breakthroughs, then we are stagnant and growth becomes stifled. We need to be innovating in order to be evolving.


Innovation doesn’t require “reinventing the wheel.” Improving, expanding and revising use innovative skills as well. Many of our everyday items are improved versions of products already in existence. A perfect example is the iPhone. All it takes is a shift in thinking. Practice this exercise...stand in front of almost anything (a wall of tools at the hardware store, a row of laptops at the electronic store, sit in your car and look around at everything, you get the point). Ask yourself “how could I improve this? Should it be bigger? smaller? faster? more user-friendly? better user experience? more efficient results? Start to turn on that creative genius that lives in all of us. That’s the way to become an innovative thinker. 


Here are some insightful quotes about innovation:

• "We cannot solve a problem by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein
  
  You MUST shift your view and see things from a different perspective if you want a different solution to a problem. The same old, same old doesn’t work. Think “better.”

• "Without the playing with fantasy no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalculable." - Carl Jung
  
  The creative process is FUN! Play around and enjoy it! I once read to think of one new idea per day. Imagine the possibilities of coming up with 365 innovative new products each year!

• "To be creative you have to contribute something different from what you've done before. Your results need not be original to the world; few results truly meet that criterion. In fact, most results are built on the work of others." - Lynne C. Levesque, Breakthrough Creativity
  
  This says it all…enhance an original.

• "When all think alike, then no one is thinking." - Walter Lippmann
  
  Brainstorm your innovative ideas with others and just witness the magic that happens! Ideas spawn into other ideas, suggestions, solutions, and you realize the magnitude of potential!

There is the potential for unlimited versions of almost everything. As consumers, we are constantly searching for the newest, the latest, the best because we love the excitement in attaining and using new things. So, a big congratulations and thank you to the Innovators of our time for your continued quest in creating excellence!

This article was taken from InventHelp's INPEX Invention Tradeshow Newsletter Archives.