Jordan Berkowitz

7 Thoughts on Innovation

Given that a large part of my new role at Ogilvy is focussed on innovation, I’ve been reading a few books on the subject.

Of particular note are:

• The Myths of Innovation by Scott Berkun
• The Other Side of Innovation by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble
• The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelly and Jonathan Littman

All of this book consumption and rumination has lead me to a few thoughts.

1. Innovation is not driven by epiphany

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but eureka moments are few and far between. They rock … I love having them. The reality is that the best innovations are born out of hard work and diligence. Aha moments may help you jump a hurdle or two along the way but they are no substitute for immersing yourself in a subject and constantly chipping away at a complex challenge. 

2. Innovation does not equal invention

That’s not to say that innovation and invention don’t overlap at times but they are not synonymous. Innovation is often about an alternate approach to a challenge that leverages existing processes, techniques, or technologies. The freedom of invention, creating something that didn’t exist before, can be completely overwhelming and perhaps impossible for most people. Innovation, on the other hand, isn’t about starting from scratch but rather approaching something from a different direction, adding or subtracting variables to change the situation, or simply mixing things up to see what falls out of an exploration.

3. You can’t be made to seem innovative

You can be innovative or you can’t. Being made to seem innovative is counter to the whole point. The effort that you make to cultivate an aura of innovation can just as easily be applied towards innovation which begets the original outcome. If you only want to be seen as innovative you’re missing the primary benefit which is to advance your business.

4. It’s a group effort

Anyone who tells you that the greatest innovations come solely from the work of individuals is wrong. Even if one person is widely recognized as the originator of an innovation, many other people contributed to the formation and realization of that idea. Given then complexity of businesses and the global market today, we need all the help we can get to design innovations that engage, advance, and deliver business value.

5. The path is unpredictable

If you think you know where you’re going to end up when you start innovating then either you’ve already solved your problem or you’ve tied an arm behind your back. One of the joys of innovating is the freedom to wander through your thought process. Often times you discover answers to questions you didn’t know you had, which may turn out to be innovations in and of themselves. It’s completely necessary to start out with a question to answer but completely unnecessary to start out with an end-state in mind.

6. History is the enemy of innovation

If there is one thing that I never want to hear again it’s “we tried that before and it didn’t work.” If that’s your perspective then it’s time to do something new. While being aware of history ensures that you don’t relive mistakes of the past, it also blinds you to the possibilities of the future. Given the speed of technological evolution I would argue that even if you attempted the same innovation 3 times across 3 years, each attempt would yield different outcomes. Perhaps the audience changed? Maybe a new product made a complicated process trivial? What if your timing was slightly off in a previous attempt?

7. Anyone can do it

I wholeheartedly believe that anyone is capable of innovating. If you can ask yourself questions like “how can I look at this differently?” or “what am I missing here?” then you can eventually come to innovate.