Innovation – not the same as invention, by the way, which has no business purpose – is the cornerstone of market growth. It boosts consumption and adapts products and services to emerging needs.
So, how can we best encourage a company’s creative push towards innovation?
Innovation no longer begins in the garage.
You’ve certainly heard of Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard, and the story of how they invented their first Hewlett-Packard (HP) computer in their garage. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak did the same, as did many others.
What these people have in common is their ability to invent, in their own private space, with no need for connection to the outside world.
There’s a simple explanation: Until the 1970s, competition was very segmented, trade was only partly free, and knowledge spread in a fragmented manner.
Then came the Internet, opening the world to information sharing. Nothing would ever be the same.
How are sharing and innovating compatible?
The ability to instantly transmit information means we can immediately know what others are doing, share information based on areas of interest, and communicate much faster with our peers from wherever we are. For some, this is a threat to their competitive edge, while others see a huge opportunity with the mixing up of trends, viewpoints, and skills in rapid time.
In the years since the launch of Hewlett-Packard and Apple, the world has become more virtual and connected. As a result, we’re shifting from a sector-based economy to a knowledge-based economy centered on community. This is what’s at stake today.
Innovating means taking risks
We must also acknowledge that while innovation is a hot topic for generating new sources of revenue or improving existing offers, its critical impact can be summarized in one word: survival.
In an extremely competitive environment where pricing pressures clamp down on flexibility, taking risks becomes a necessity and finding “the next new thing” is a complex challenge: How can you offer the right product (or service) at the right time, maximize consumer response while reducing development cycles, and ensure that others don’t pass you by or take your ideas?
This is where social networks can play a key role.
The role of network innovation
Today’s business and consumer market innovation come from collaborative work, where the patchwork of varied contributions is what makes an idea successful. In an era of globalization, any idea can spread far and wide with ease… and must be considered.
Companies simply can’t expect ground-breaking innovation to happen in a stale, outdated business environment. They need to organize their flow of ideas to make them as fluid and productive as possible – notably in the form of an enterprise social network.
By including its entire ecosystem (partners, suppliers, customers, consumers) in a series of both separate and converging community conversations, the company wins. This new social network becomes a space for ongoing discussion about possible changes to the company’s products and services.
Stayed tuned for Part 2
where I’ll discuss how companies can harness and organize these conversations to remain connected and competitive.
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