Celebrate National Innovation Day: Four common myths and four truths about being innovative

February 16 is National Innovation Day – a day to celebrate innovation big and small and the folks who bring them to life. I believe there is a great, creative innovator in all of us but that not everyone knows how to harness this superpower.

Innovative thinking, creating new products and developing new services are a big part of what makes our world better and better every year. Thousands of innovators and entrepreneurs bring new ideas or evolve old ones to make our lives better, easier or more enjoyable.

At the most basic level, innovation is simply a process of creating a new idea, method or device. In consumer product goods, innovation is more specifically about new or improved products or services that delight and meet the needs of a specific consumer segment.

Sometimes ideas come to you in a dream like way - you feel free, open and creative and ideas easily pop up and flow out of you. But other times – often when you have a specific innovation challenge or brainstorm coming up - trying to come up with ideas can be daunting. If you wish you could be more innovative read on.

Myths

Let’s look at four common myths that surround innovative thinking:

1.       Some people are just born creative

It is true that some people hone and practice the skill of being creative, but innovation thinking is a skill that can be developed in all of us. One key trait that many innovators share is their desire to harness a childlike wonder of the world – one where anything is possible if you can dream it. Bold, sometimes crazy ideas can be the key insight for the next big innovation.

2.       You have to be a rule breaker and disruptive

It might help to have a natural bent towards rule breaking but that is not a prerequisite for great ideas. Innovation can be small changes that iterate a product in a new way as much as it can be an Elon Musk like declaration of colonizing Mars.

3.       Innovation comes from the top or the leader of a project

Great innovation companies and teams recognize the leading ideas can come from anywhere. Moreover, kernels of great ideas can come from disparate people, teams or sources and come together to create the magic of a big idea. A key job of an innovator is to bring those ideas into focus and drive forward with the best of all the pieces.

4.       Solo geniuses come up with brilliant ideas

I have yet to see a fully baked, big idea that came from one lone person. One of the thrills of innovation work is seeing an idea morph and grow as it gets discussed, shown to end users and developed. Entrepreneurs are sometimes held up as the example of one person being the innovator and while it is true that the founder might have had the vision and initial idea, the end product will certainly be the agglomeration of many individuals building on that initial seed idea.

Truths

The truth is that innovative thinking is a skill that can be cultivated. Here are four core principles of being an innovative thinker:

1.       Know your user deeply

Authentically knowing the user base on a gut level is key to good innovation. You have to understand their world, have empathy for their challenges and know them well enough to be able to articulate what brings them joy and happiness. When you can anticipate how your target might react, you know you can ideate solutions that fit their lives and add value. If you are, or you are in, the target it is easier but if you are not, find everyway possible to get to know your user – go into their homes, follow their daily routines, learn what hobbies appeal to them, go shopping with them.

2.       Listen and watch to find the gaps

Developing the ability to identify the gap between a group of consumer’s needs and wants to what is currently available is a great way to find space for innovative ideas to surface. If you have done the work of observing your target to know them deeply, then your job is to listen to the overt words they use AND also to the unspoken words and actions they exhibit. Between hacks they are doing, wishes they articulate and needs they want help with, are opportunities.

3.       Great ideas are built by a team

The myth of the solo innovator is rarely real. The truth is that good innovators seek out diverse points of view to BUILD on their initial insight. A great innovator surrounds themselves with a team that can push, probe and raise the idea up. Just remember that you are not looking for consensus, which is an idea killer, but rather the collaboration that comes from a “yes, and” dynamic.

4.       Take risks and learn from trial

By articulating the idea and showing it to others, you start to build the idea up, figure out what holds it back and massage it till it is just right. Bring the idea to life as quickly as you can, in any way you can. Take it for a spin and see what reaction you get – each input helps refine and solidify your innovation. Reframe challenges you may face in the early stages from ‘failures’ to ‘opportunities’ to learn and pivot.

The value of becoming more innovative is the ability to improve your team, business, product or services for your business and humankind. Being part of the evolution – in big and small ways – is powerful and exciting.

Take 5 minutes on National Innovation Day and pause your day-to-day work. Right now… jot down 5 or more ideas that can make a difference for your business, team, product or user. You’ll be surprised how quickly innovation thinking permeates your everyday if you can instill this practice regularly while honing your observation skills! Repeated consistently, you’ll get to that open, free space where ideas flow and opportunities become clear.