I feel I need to write a post about something which has been bothering me for a while. It is about the (mis)use of the word innovation.
Many people talk about innovation and innovative new products. What I struggle to deal with is: most of what people label as innovative is really just an improvement on an existing product. What many organisations and media commentators think is so innovative is really just ‘features and benefits’.
Simon Sinek (author of Start With Why) claims that:
“Real innovation changes the course of industries – if not society.”
Examples include: the microwave, the fax machine, locomotion, the light bulb, iTunes, the internet, flight.
Do you agree?
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Simon Sinek is the author of Start With Why. Listen to an interview with him on the Marketing Over Coffee podcast (iTunes link), in the episode titled Special Interview with Simon Sinek, author of “Start with Why”. You can also view his keynote in this TED talk.