Innovation.. What is the Correct Approach ?

Innovation has become a common theme in the world today. Its been carried out in various aspects which includes Business & Marketing , Information and Technology, Sport and Development Activities.

Although many people want to carry out innovative activities there are various instances where ideas are generated but not actually implemented. One reason for this situation is the approach when it comes to innovation and today, I am going to elaborate on some approaches that can be carried out to implement innovation / innovative activities . If you have your own approach and ideas , be sure to talk about them by leaving a comment in the comments section =).

First of all let me include a quote I found from Wikipedia which gives a very detailed description about what Innovation is all about.


"The central meaning of innovation thus relates to renewal or improvement, with novelty being a consequence of this improvement. For an improvement to take place it is necessary for people to change the way they make decisions, or make choices outside of their norm. "
Source: Meaning of Innovation

As you can see in the description, innovation should be able to change the way people behave and make decisions at present and should be able to improve the activities they currently carry out. That should be our prime target when we are carrying out innovative activities. So with that goal in mind lets see what other approaches/techniques we can use to carry out innovative activities.
 


When you get an Idea, Write it Down..

As human beings we always have ideas ( I don't intend this in a bad way =) ) these could come at any time to your mind at any time and just goes away. Ideas comes from problems you face or from personal experience and when those come you need to note it down so you won't forget it.

When you have noted down all the ideas, you need to do a "pros and cons analysis" ; this means you need to identify "what are the most effective idea and what idea can I implement to change people lives ? " (Remember the goal I stated earlier? )

By doing the above, you can identify the most effective ideas and remove the ones that you think would not make a "change". After that, you can do further analysis and identify the best idea/ideas and make them your prime tool to "innovate". If you have done this , you are ready.. ready to bring the next big thing to the world.


Use Fact Finding Methods to Understand What People Really Need..

This approach helps you to directly ask the community / people / customers what are the problems they are currently facing and what they really need. This will help you to generate idea through people which in the end makes the first approach I told you far more easy.

You can use fact finding methods such as Questionnaires. Polls, Webinars as well as Social Media
tools to identify peoples needs and directly approach that need through an innovative idea.

Still , you need to do a analysis on can those needs be implemented through innovation. Just like ideas, "Every Need of Cannot be Satisfied. "


Identify Ways How You Can Market Your Idea..

So you have identified a brilliant idea and then you find out that its already implemented. Should you give up ? "NO.. Not Yet..". There are tons if ideas that have become a success although it has been implemented before. Just take a look at Facebook.. sites like that existed before it came up ( ex: HI5 , Orkut) but what Mr. Zuckerberg did was identify a way he can market his product. he identified his market segment ( College Students) and then positioned his idea and product to that segment with future plans of taking it to other segments. His approach worked brilliantly for him and now see where Facebook is ?

The catch here is finding ways to market your idea. That is how you can be innovative where you find gaps in the already implemented systems of your idea and target your product to satisfy those gaps. This way, you can find your niche and then start marketing to that niche which will give you a tremendous boost as a start up and later will help you expand your idea to other communities.

Explain Your Idea in a Language People can Actually Understand..

This is a situation you can see frequently these days when explaining new ideas. Idea makers try to be too technical when explaining their ideas hence, leaving clients/customers in a dilemma.
Clients/Customers need to understand your idea so you need to explain it in simple language. So explain in simple terms and be precise. "Don't be too technical "

Have a Lot of Patience..

This is something any person should have when they are doing anything new . Your idea may not work at the first time; But it is essential "Not to Give Up". If one idea doesn't work, try another one. If that doesn't work.. try another. Its takes patience as well as a lot of hard work to make an Idea a success . So , work hard and smart on your idea and innovate .. You will find the success you surely deserve..

So those are some of my thoughts on Innovation. As i told earlier be sure to share your knowledge and thoughts on this . Thanks a Lot for checking out the Post =)

Cheers !!

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