Innovation is one of those words whose time has come. It seems that every organisation in the world wants to be more innovative and more often than not technology is right in the middle of the innovation discussion. For an idea that is so widely desired I reckon there is a remarkable lack of agreement on what innovation actually means. This was brought home to me recently when I was working through the entries to the CIO100.
It is a real pleasure and a privilege to be a judge in the awards and one of the major criteria of the awards is demonstrating innovation and there are some really excellent examples of “innovation” highlighted in the entries. However the answers to the innovation questions also highlight how little agreement there is on what innovation means. One of the themes running through the entries is that innovation means new technology. You could see this play out in the entries through phrases like “individually there is nothing unique in these technologies …… “.
This is particularly interesting for me as I have never directly associated innovation with new technology. For me innovation has always been about new ways of doing things that add value that wasn’t previously available. So while the technology used may not be new, if it is used in a way that adds new value then it is innovative. Within this context when I think of innovation I almost always go directly to the iPhone and its predecessor iPod product ranges. These products contained very little new technology (yes, I know this is a simplification, but stick with me) and it was the way they were combined that made them unique.
When the iPod was first released it wasn’t the first mp3 on the market and depending on who you ask, it wasn’t even the best. When the iTunes store was opened it wasn’t the first online store for music. These things were not new, but the way they were designed and integrated meant that together they added significant value and people loved them. Then there was the iPod touch which was not the first touch screen on the marketplace (I still have fond memories of my PalmPilot). Eventually they added mobile phone capability and it became the iPhone, but it wasn’t the first smartphone on the market.
Even though the iPhone and its predecessors weren’t first and their core technology wasn’t new, it’s pretty hard to argue that they are not incredibly innovative products because they did things in a different way that added significant value to their customers.
You could do the same with Uber. The core of their technology, mobile apps, location tracking, analytics to match buyers and sellers, online payments, customer ratings is not particularly new or technologically interesting, it’s the way they have applied them that is new, interesting and innovative.
Scott Berkun, a renowned expert on creativity and the author of several books on innovation recommends that we stop using the word innovation as it has become meaningless and that rather than talking about innovation, we should be specific. “We are solving this problem for these people with an aim to …..”.
I love this framing from Berkun as it sounds like a value proposition which I have recommended previously as a great way to connect our colleagues to the value of technology. Yet when CIOs were describing how they and their team have used and combined technology in ways that allowed them to “solve this problem for these people”, which is what Apple and Uber did so magnificently, they were almost apologetic. Some even “gave themselves up” as it’s not that innovative because we didn’t use anything new and unique.
I reckon this is outright wrong, we should not be apologetic. We should stand up proud and proclaim our and our team’s ability to be innovative by using whatever technology we have available, old or new, interesting or outright boring, to solve old problems and exploit new opportunities for our organisations.
And on that note, congratulations to the entrants in the CIO100 awards. You are doing many interesting and innovative things that are enabling your organisations to serve your customers better, your teams to be more effective and you are improving organisational efficiency and helping to open up new market opportunities. Own it, and I salute you.