{"id":2801,"date":"2013-02-26T07:54:41","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T12:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/?p=2801"},"modified":"2013-02-26T08:14:01","modified_gmt":"2013-02-26T13:14:01","slug":"5-elements-to-transform-invention-into-innovation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/5-elements-to-transform-invention-into-innovation\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Elements To Transform Invention Into Innovation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Transform<\/a>Like transforming paper into origami sculpture requires skill, artistry, material, vision and an idea, transforming invention into innovation requires several elements. The 5 elements are disruption<\/em>, business model structure<\/em>, business model infrastructure<\/em>, adoption<\/em>, and timing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Recently, there was a discussion on one of the LinkedIn Groups debating whether efficiency was the enemy of innovation. The dialog in that thread with my colleague Kell Sloan<\/a>, of Nova Scotia led me to identify the 5 elements to transform invention <\/em>into innovation<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I had made the case that while the words are commonly used interchangeably, invention is not innovation<\/a>. Innovation is successfully commercialized invention.<\/strong> The key differentiator is commercial viability and success in a market<\/em>. I\u2019ve written a few posts<\/a> on this topic and how field of dreams<\/a> <\/em>strategies to invent and find a market rarely work.<\/p>\n

I owe this post to the discussion there on LinkedIn, and to Kell\u2019s put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is<\/em>, question: \u201cSo, let me ask you, at what point does an improvement in technology or process (invention) become an innovation?”<\/p>\n

Transform Invention Into Innovation Example<\/h2>\n

As a reminder of the differentiation of terms, here\u2019s an example of the difference between invention and innovation that everyone will know. I wrote in the discussion on LinkedIn that Steve Jobs disruptively turned the MP3 player into an innovation by adding iTunes (distribution) and connecting the music industry (content) creating a commercial ecosystem that made the MP3 player itself, commercially viable.<\/p>\n

\"Listen<\/a>MP3 players were effectively invented over a decade before, but were not an innovation as they were neither commercially viable, nor successful in any market. I wrote in The Innovation Continuum<\/a><\/em> that Wikipedia lists the first MP3 player as the “Listen Up\u201d player from Audio Highway. Since its introduction at the Consumer Electronics Show in 1997 it has all but slipped into obscurity as a memory.<\/p>\n

It Takes 5 Elements<\/h2>\n

In response to Kell\u2019s question, I identified these five elements in the innovation continuum. I shared that the recipe likely varies from case to case, but the common five elements to transform invention into innovation seem to be unique combinations of the following:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Disruption<\/strong> \u2013 A product, process or service needs to radically disrupt the status quo of the nature that Clayton Christensen defines. If the invention is not interesting, nor does it have unique value and cost differentiation, it\u2019s just an incremental innovation, at best. (Incremental innovation is fine, but uninteresting in the context here. And, it is always a target to be marginalized by true disruptive innovation. One might see the Automotive or transportation industry in general, as an example of annual incremental innovation, readily a target for disruptive innovation like Google\u2019s driverless cars, or Star Trek\u2019s Transporter \u2013 Think BIG.)<\/li>\n
  2. Business Model Structure<\/strong> \u2013 The invention stands a greater chance for success if it has obvious and immediate value to the buyer (B2B or B2C), and that is often a function of a business model disruption. I haven\u2019t done the math, but I suspect that my kids have spent more for music at $0.99 a song, than I did in college, buying albums on CD for $19.99. The price seems lower, but the business model structure is such that it\u2019s easier to buy more, more often, and feel good about it.<\/li>\n
  3. Business Model Infrastructure<\/strong> \u2013 Slightly different than the prior element, this involves leveraging the business model infrastructure available. Think of this as the shift from cash registers <\/em>to Point of Sale (POS) terminals. Or more recently, the transition from credit cards to the virtual wallet. For most industries (B2B or B2C), it\u2019s the transition to online, not just for retail, but in terms of any and all financial transactions and fair exchange of fees for products and services.<\/li>\n
  4. Adoption<\/strong> \u2013 The invention must have been lead with customer-centric design thinking. The kind that only professionally trained marketers can do successfully, efficiently, and at optimal cost and timing. Leading with marketing, especially in the social era, is to surround the invention with marketing as strategy \u2013 broad committed effort to gain customer interest, drive market adoption and build industry velocity. The outcome is adoption <\/em>measured in terms of numbers of users and customers.<\/li>\n
  5. Timing<\/strong> \u2013 all of these elements are subject to timing. As products, services, customers and markets create an ecosystem of opportunity; it requires that these elements come together at a common time. They can be driven by a marketing as strategy<\/em>, approach. Apple does this well. Others come together as industries anchored in legacy let go of the past. Banking, moving toward the virtual wallet is one example. The transition to SaaS and PaaS cloud software for ERP, and other critical back-office systems, is another.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To Ponder<\/h2>\n

    I like ending with To Ponder<\/em>. It hands over the sparks in my blog to you <\/em>to ignite into a deeper discussion. While I would like nothing better than to spend a month online, and at the library, researching the points here into a formal PhD dissertation, with statistics, economics examples, and more \u2013 I think it\u2019s more effective to push the idea out to you, and ask you for comment and participation.<\/p>\n

    I respect traditional academic approaches for research and curated new knowledge; but things are starting to move much faster than that. I hope these five elements give your next discussion something to think about.<\/p>\n

    Side note: Kell Sloan is an interesting individual that is worth the time to get to know. Anyone that has his skills, and catalyzes thought, focuses on customers and builds relationships like he does, is worth having on your team.<\/p>\n

    I also hope, invite, and request that you please leave a comment. Share with others what ideas you have. Is there a 6th element? What examples do you have that you can add as supporting research?<\/p>\n

    Image Credits Featured Image Origami: Foglienere<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a>, ListenUp Player: WikiMedia Commons.,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    <\/a>Like transforming paper into origami sculpture requires skill, artistry, material, vision and an idea, transforming invention into innovation requires several elements. The 5 elements are disruption, business model structure, business model infrastructure, adoption, and timing.<\/p>\n

    Recently, there was a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[87,63,104,50,10,101,8],"tags":[93,12,58,15,20,111],"class_list":["post-2801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-models","category-customer-user-experience","category-economics","category-innovation","category-marketing","category-platforms","category-strategy","tag-complexity-into-simplicity","tag-design-thinking","tag-disambiguation","tag-pervasive-strategy","tag-results-outcomes","tag-social-era"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/origami.png?fit=150%2C150&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p25ukk-Jb","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/steinvox.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}