Why innovate? Because we have to. End of story.
Yes, it is a short answer, yet a true answer. Because we have to.
Okay. You bought this book, and expect a longer answer. So here’s why. Because of what any newspaper says on a given day. Two wars in the Middle East still soak up tax dollars and lives. Global warming is rapidly changing the environment Schools are failing. Childhood obesity is rampant. More manufacturing employees are being laid off as their jobs are outsourced. Nuclear waste piles up. Asian carp are swimming up the Mississippi River, devouring everything in their path. The Sahara desert is expanding, lowland gorillas are disappearing, and mortgage holders are defaulting. Enough.
Is innovation the only answer to our problems? No, but innovation holds the keys to many possible solutions to the biggest challenges facing our world. Is it an easy answer? No, it also takes focus, perseverance and powerful thinking. But is it worth the effort? Of course it is. You cannot afford not to innovate.
“Innovate or fall behind; the competitive imperative for virtually all businesses today is that simple.” (Dorothy Leonard, Harvard Business School)
“CEOs know that ideas and innovations are the most precious currency in the new economy and increasingly the old economy as well.” (Hargadon and Sutton)
Do you want 287 more quotes? They are easily attainable. If you want more, Google (yes, I know that Google is not a formal verb) innovation or reasons for innovation. Or go to Wikiquote and ask for innovation quotes. But more quotes would make for a fairly boring and useless book. So, you will be spared.
Here are some more hidden reasons for you and your organization to tackle innovation.
• Innovation drives individual wealth in any economy, and provides ways to create new economic growth.
• An organization’s human resources are its best real competitive advantage. Processes, technologies, capital, and products can all be duplicated.
• Employees who are allowed to innovate and be creative are happier and have higher morale. They use more of their inherent intelligence and feel as if they are genuine contributors. As the author/ researcher Csikszentmihalyi wrote, “Creativity is so fascinating that when we are involved in it, we feel that we are living more fully than during the rest of life.”
• Do you want happier people? Spark their innovative imagination and allow them to be curious. Research on positive psychology, or happiness, suggests that curiosity increases happiness. Curiosity about the world, about products and processes, or about human motivation drives innovation.
• Asked to do more with less? Who isn’t? Solution? You need to be innovative with what you have. Reduce cycle time. Eliminate steps in a process. Reduce energy consumption by 10%. Innovative processes will help you with that.
• The European Union decreed that 2007 was the year of innovation. Do you want to fall further behind?
• There are four kids in an attic in Bangalore, India who want your job and are working until late hours to take it away. They are probably working while you are watching Grey’s Anatomy on television.
Besides being hard work, innovation is fun. The process enlivens and rejuvenates. It breathes new life into individuals and organizations.