WISDOM
D E F I N I N G I N N O VAT I O N : S O LV I N G P R O B L E M S , S U S T A I N A B LY // By Mushambi Mutuma
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EO, author and renowned speaker Mushambi Mutuma unpacks what it means to (truly) innovate, and provides invaluable guidance for effectively harnessing creativity to propel your ventures to long-term success. I recently asked a few followers how they’d identify innovation: ‘The improvement of existing ideas or creation of new ones, to operate more efficiently and effectively’ – @ms.jua ‘New and simple solutions to problems’ – @danbrsmalemo ‘Progressive, life-changing & inspiring’ – @staceydesigns However, it was @kgalimo’s take on innovation that spoke most directly to me: ‘Innovation is about finding a more sustainable solution to an everyday problem. It’s a reinvention of self. Thoughtful simplicity.’ Inherently, innovation is about problem-solving. It’s that simple. We often overcomplicate what it means to innovate and how to do it. However, in its very definition, innovation is about finding a solution in the simplest way possible.
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Typically, we tend to believe that coming up with an innovative idea means coming up with a solution no one has ever heard of before - a space-age level application. The Rolls-Royce version of the big idea in our head. In most cases, the Polo Vivo version, with no air-conditioning or power windows, that just gets us from point A to point B, is all that’s necessary. Innovation’s nature is for you to use it as a tool to solve the problems around you – innovating is about solving a problem with a solution that will last. To describe it even more simply, innovation is the process by which we change the world. We don’t innovate for the sake of smashing the status quo or just for the sake of breaking everything around us. Innovation is solutionbased.
WHAT INNOVATION ISN’T
Understanding the opportunities with innovation and remaining adjacent to how it works is quite critical, but we also have to understand what innovation isn’t.
INNOVATION IS NOT ABOUT BEING FIRST
When understanding the nature of technology and innovation, you’ll note that most new ideas are truly not that new. Invention rarely happens in this day and age, and that’s okay. It’s likely less
needed than before. Continuous improvement and adaptation, however, will always remain key. So, stop trying to be first to market with a brand new idea. The focus should be on taking what’s currently present and refining it even further. Innovation does not mean being the first in your industry to launch or take advantage of something. It can also mean just doing it the best, the most efficiently or with a reframed business model.
INNOVATION IS NOT MERELY A BUZZWORD
Don’t let taglines, fancy job titles and new websites fool you; there’s a huge difference between saying ‘we’re innovative’ and actually being innovative. Many of the brands I meet with on a regular basis as clients state and believe (on the surface) that they are innovative. It’s written on the whiteboard of almost every boardroom and it’s raised in every yearly team-building workshop. A few years ago, a financial services client gave us the brief to ‘reinvent digital banking’. As a digital lab, this was an incredibly exciting challenge for us. We were going to get to truly disrupt and offer a fully immersive value proposition to an industry filled with inefficiencies, mistrust and unexplainable fees. Right?
