Innovation as key renewal process

The answer to this problem is that organization need to maintain a continuous innovation process to create new business while the old business starts to falter, if the solution is so simple why all organizations are not growing constantly?

The problem is that most of the times organizations are preoccupied with their existing business. Organizations need to focus on where they are currently but also to where they are heading. They often lack of ways to manage their innovations as the renewal process and only wait as the new waves of change will make their current business obsolete.

To solve this problem organizations need to use innovation as the key renewal process. This requires that leaders at all levels need common ways to manage their innovation process.

The definition of innovation varies in different literature and it changes meaning in different context. Every time innovation word has been used it is about something new and fresh and it has a very positive sound to it. In my opinion, I have found the best definitions of innovation are following.

“Innovation is the successful exploitation of new ideas” Bessant and Tidd (2007: 12)

The process of translating idea into useful – and used – new products”Bessant and Tidd (2007: 29)

Their model of innovation emphasizes innovation as a core renewal process in which ideas are turned into a reality that captures business value. (Tidd and Bessant, 2013:59-104)

“Creativity… is a starting point for innovation; the first is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the second” Amabile et al. (1996:1155)

These definitions of innovations have a very strong emphasis on separating innovation from actual ideas or new products to a key process that uses the creativity of people to drive change and development. This is the process what organization need and master in order to keep changing, renewing and growing in the winds of change.

This is my starting post on LinkedIn of series of posts as a part of my MBA work where I dig deeper in this subject.

Markus Halonen/Keto Software