Thoughts about innovation from the perspective of an innovator Dr Sunveer Matadin
Not many know or understand what is meant by the term “innovation”. In simple terms, it is about being clever enough to have a competitive advantage; to be set apart from the rest. However, innovation is not one single “thing” that can be bought, taught or implemented. It is not an idea and it does not come from a single person or department. Innovation is a culture. Despite popular perception, innovation is not something new. Innovation is basically structured and supported creativity, and creativity has been around since mankind first made tools and weapons to give him the advantage over his enemies and the animals he hunted and competed against for survival. Even today, creativity is just as essential for a company's survival in the global playing field, but where most companies fall short is that creativity remains just that: ideas that never come to fruition. Imagine a raging wildfire. Instead of associating the wildfire with destruction, take a look at its positive qualities: it is powerful, unstoppable and produces enormous light and heat energy. Now imagine your company’s innovation resources as a raging resource that produces light to see the solutions to any obstacle, and with the heated passion and energy to implement these solutions. This ever-growing resource is fuelled by past successes, passion and confidence. But where would one start? Let us start with a spark. Innovation can be sparked by anyone in the organisation. What is needed is a culture that allows the spark to turn into a flame. Once one has a spark, that creative idea needs to be supported, otherwise it will die
out in an instant, never realising its full potential. Therefore, once one has this spark, one must huddle around it to prevent the winds of negativity from extinguishing it. It needs to be cultivated by being providing with fuel, which will allow it to turn into a tiny flame. This means adding something flammable like tinder, kindling or wood. This will come in the form of something that provides support in the form of funding, facilities and skilled resources. Once the sheltered flame has been fuelled with kindling, one can provide oxygen by gently fanning the flame. The idea, already fuelled by resources, also needs to be fanned by the company with the gentle breeze of support, encouragement and the removal of the fear of failure. Just as a flame grows into a fire, so too will the idea grow into an innovation. As the shelter that is protecting the fire is removed, so too does one remove the protection from negativity by implementing the innovation in the environment in which it is designed to thrive and become self-sufficient. Negativity may be purely unfounded and based on the fear of trying something new, but it may also be based on quantifiable 2 0 2 0
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risk variables that may have a valid influence on the success of the innovation. If the idea survives the gusts of negativity, both founded and unfounded, the company can further fuel the innovation with additional resources, support and encouragement until it generates revenue or creates savings to allow it to be self-sufficient. Both the fire and the innovation have now grown strong enough to function independently. However, just as a single fire does not a wildfire make, so a single innovation does not an innovative company make. The fire needs to spark other fires that grow and, in turn, spark even more fires. So too, the innovation must spark other ideas that grow into even more innovations. In the case of the fire, sparks of tinder are carried in the winds until they land somewhere dry where more tinder turns the sparks into a small flame fed by oxygen.
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