Innovation - it's easier than you think

Guest post by: John Heap
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Preparing to attend a Trade Show or Exhibition - By John Heap

Innovation is often taken to be the process that results in ï¿½big ideasï¿½, transformational and revolutionary ideas that change dramatically how we think and act. So we are urged to be creative ... but we struggle to come up with these revolutionary idea ... and we think we are failures.

However, we are looking at the wrong thing; trying too hard. Innovation is not invention ï¿½ it is ï¿½appliedï¿½ ï¿½ it usually results in a change in a process or in the application of an idea, rather than in the idea itself.

Of course some innovations are ï¿½big ideasï¿½ ï¿½ but they donï¿½t have to be. One striking feature of many innovations is that they seem obvious or simple when viewed with hindsight. (Consider the first time that someone had the idea of ï¿½insuranceï¿½ ï¿½ paying for disasters before they happen. The idea must have seemed very strange at first ï¿½ now it seems an obvious thing to do.)

David Neeleman, the founder and CEO of JetBlue, the US budget airline, once described innovation as ï¿½a way of doing something better than it has been done beforeï¿½ ï¿½ if you aim for that, you canï¿½t go far wrong. You do need to innovate - after all that's why you're an entrepreneur.... but you donï¿½t have to ï¿½go for brokeï¿½; simply try pick what is important to your business = and then apply yourself (yes, you still have to put in some effort!) to improving the situation or solving the problem until you can do whatever it is better than it has ever been done before.

(More to come on this!)

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Preparing to attend a Trade Show or Exhibition - By John Heap

About the Author: John Heap

RSS for John's articles - Visit John's website
Productivity is my 'bag' ... it is what I know about. I am President of the World Confederation of Productivity Science -http://www.wcps.info and Director of the National Productivity Centre in the UK http://www.natprodcentre.com - go to this site for some good free resources and some (paid for but low price) e-learning on productivity. I also edit the International Journal of Productivity & Performance Management. My views on productivity and on learning (which I think are related) are summarised at http://www.johnheap.net .... and current productivity news and views are on my blog - www.donotcomplicate.blogspot.com. You may also want to join the Productivity Futures Group on LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com). Finally if all this leaves you cold, go to www.mockprod.com for a more light-hearted look at (mock) productivity.

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Innovation - it's easier than you think

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