Innovation is about finding a better way of doing something. Like many of the new development buzzwords (which many of them are over-used on many business documents), the concept of innovation originates from the world of business. It refers to the generation of new products through the process of creative entrepreneurship, putting it into production, and diffusing it more widely through increased sales. Innovation can be viewed as t he application of better solutions that meet new requirements, in-articulated needs, or existing market needs. This is accomplished through more effective products, processes, services, technologies, or ideas that are readily available to markets, governments and society. The term innovation can be defined as something original and, as a consequence, new, that “breaks into” the market or society.
Innoveracy: Misunderstanding Innovation article points out that there is a form of ignorance which seems to be universal: the inability to understand the concept and role of innovation. The way this is exhibited is in the misuse of the term and the inability to discern the difference between novelty, creation, invention and innovation. The result is a failure to understand the causes of success and failure in business and hence the conditions that lead to economic growth. The definition of innovation is easy to find but it seems to be hard to understand. Here is a simple taxonomy of related activities that put innovation in context:
- Novelty: Something new
- Creation: Something new and valuable
- Invention: Something new, having potential value through utility
- Innovation: Something new and uniquely useful
The taxonomy is illustrated with the following diagram.
The differences are also evident in the mechanisms that exist to protect the works: Novelties are usually not protectable, Creations are protected by copyright or trademark, Inventions can be protected for a limited time through patents (or kept secret) and Innovations can be protected through market competition but are not defensible through legal means.
Innovation is a lot of talked about nowdays as essential to businesses to do. Is innovation essential for development work? article tells that innovation has become central to the way development organisations go about their work. In November 2011, Bill Gates told the G20 that innovation was the key to development. Donors increasingly stress innovation as a key condition for funding, and many civil society organisations emphasise that innovation is central to the work they do.
Some innovation ideas are pretty simple, and some are much more complicated and even sound crazy when heard first. The is place for crazy sounding ideas: venture capitalists are gravely concerned that the tech startups they’re investing in just aren’t crazy enough:
Not all development problems require new solutions, sometimes you just need to use old things in a slightly new way. Development innovations may involve devising technology (such as a nanotech water treatment kit), creating a new approach (such as microfinance), finding a better way of delivering public services (such as one-stop egovernment service centres), identifying ways of working with communities (such as participation), or generating a management technique (such as organisation learning).
Theorists of innovation identify innovation itself as a brief moment of creativity, to be followed by the main routine work of producing and selling the innovation. When it comes to development, things are more complicated. Innovation needs to be viewed as tool, not master. Innovation is a process, not a one time event. Genuine innovation is valuable but rare.
There are many views on the innovation and innvation process. I try to collect together there some views I have found on-line. Hopefully they help you more than confuze. Managing complexity and reducing risk article has this drawing which I think pretty well describes innovation as done in product development:
8 essential practices of successful innovation from The Innovator’s Way shows essential practices in innovation process. Those practices are all integrated into a non-sequential, coherent whole and style in the person of the innovator.
In the IT work there is lots of work where a little thinking can be a source of innovation. Automating IT processes can be a huge time saver or it can fail depending on situation. XKCD comic strip Automation as illustrates this:
System integration is a critical element in project design article has an interesting project cost influence graphic. The recommendation is to involve a system integrator early in project design to help ensure high-quality projects that satisfy project requirements. Of course this article tries to market system integration services, but has also valid points to consider.
Core Contributor Loop (CTTDC) from Art Journal blog posting Blog Is The New Black tries to link inventing an idea to theory of entrepreneurship. It is essential to tune the engine by making improvements in product, marketing, code, design and operations.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
AI-Designed ‘Living Robots’ Crawl, Heal Themselves
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-human-os/biomedical/devices/aidesigned-living-robots-crawl-heal-themselves
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techcrunch.com/2020/01/14/us-patents-hit-record-333530-granted-in-2019-ibm-samsung-not-the-faangs-lead-the-pack/
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Hey guys, this is Jonathan, and I’m about to take a drink of apple juice with my right hand for the first time.”
This 12-year-old Wisconsin boy has been fitted with a life-changing 3D-printed bionic arm after being born without part of the limb. https://abcn.ws/2ReHJQ0
Tomi Engdahl says:
Engineering and imagination go hand-in-hand.
1. Some people can do.
2. Some people can think.
3. Some people can imagine.
4. Some people can do all of these.
5. Some people can do none of these.
6. …and some people can build anything from two paperclips and and duct-tape.
https://hackaday.com/2020/01/20/testing-your-grit-tales-of-hacking-in-difficult-situations/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The European Processor Initiative, an effort to create a native processor for exascale supercomputing in the region, has entered a new phase with the launch of SiPearl — a company dedicated to developing commercialized implementations of the project’s technology.
The European Processor Initiative Gets Ready for Commercialization with Startup SiPearl
https://www.hackster.io/news/the-european-processor-initiative-gets-ready-for-commercialization-with-startup-sipearl-9b11c8df4fcb
Fresh startup launches with an aim of producing Europe’s first native microprocessor for the exascale era
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.salkunrakentaja.fi/2020/01/jeff-bezos-amazon-tyontekijan-ehdotus-kaksinkertaisti-tuottavuuden/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/aarp/2020/01/22/innovating-for-longevity-older-americans-ignite-innovation-in-tech/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Niku Oksala pääsi lääketieteelliseen opiskelemaan vasta kolmannella yrittämällä – ehkä siitä syystä hän sai idean maailmanluokan keksintöön
Tamperelaisen tutkimusryhmän kehittämä älyveitsi auttaa syöpähoidoissa.
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11179226
Tomi Engdahl says:
Käänteinen aurinkopaneeli tuottaa sähköä yöllä
Kylmä avaruus voi olla uusi energianlähde. Tutkijat ovat kehittäneet menetelmän, joka muuttaa avaruuteen nousevan lämmön sähköksi. Tekniikalla voidaan niin valaista ja lämmittää taloja kuin raivata tietä siirtokunnille muille taivaankappaleille.
https://tieku.fi/teknologia/energia/aurinkokennot/kaanteinen-aurinkopaneeli-tuottaa-sahkoa-yolla
Tomi Engdahl says:
Artificial neurons which could replace lost brain cells in Alzheimer’s, developed by scientists
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2019/12/03/artificial-neurons-could-replace-lost-brain-cells-alzheimers/
Tomi Engdahl says:
“If engineers do not understand the evolution of technology,” Savini says, “they lack important knowledge that could be applied to their own innovations.”
“The intent of the museum was to preserve the memory of important steps in the evolution of electrical technology,” he says.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-institute/ieee-history/founder-of-italys-pavia-museum-of-electrical-technology-works-to-keep-engineering-history-alive
Tomi Engdahl says:
To Change the Way You Think, Change the Way You See
https://hbr.org/2019/04/to-change-the-way-you-think-change-the-way-you-see?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hbr
“Think Different,” said the famous 1997 Apple advertisement. Excellent advice, obviously, to all creators, innovators, and entrepreneurs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mothers of innovation: 12 women engineers and scientists to know
https://www.edn.com/mothers-of-innovation-12-women-engineers-and-scientists-to-know/5/?utm_content=bufferb474f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=edn_facebook&utm_campaign=buffer
Tomi Engdahl says:
Eating A Junk Food Diet Quickly Undermines Your Memory And Self-Control
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/eating-a-junk-food-diet-quickly-undermines-your-memory-and-selfcontrol/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why you can’t overlook the small details in the pursuit of innovation
The informal TechCrunch book club reads Ted Chiang’s The Great Silence
https://techcrunch.com/2020/02/29/why-you-cant-overlook-the-small-details-in-the-pursuit-of-innovation/?tpcc=ECFB2020
We invest billions of dollars into satellites and telescopes and radar arrays hoping to capture some fleeting glimpse into an alien world somewhere in the galaxy. And yet, there are deeply alien worlds all around us. It’s not just parrots — Earth is filled with species that are incredibly different from us in physiology, behavior, and group dynamics. What if the species most alien to our own in the whole galaxy is located right under our noses?
Nonetheless, innovation can be a weird beast. It isn’t hard to look around the Valley these days and be dismayed at just how adrift a huge part of the industry is. We are creating more “smart” products than ever, yet huge social challenges and scientific frontiers remain completely unfunded. It’s easier to raise funding to start up an upgraded handbag company with a new brand and marketing strategy than it is to build an engineering team to push quantum computing forward.
There are certainly many valid arguments for moving our money to more “worthwhile” pursuits. Yet, fresh ideas that change industries can sometimes come from the oddest places, with even frivolous products occasionally creating fundamental advances in technology.
Facebook as a social network might be a time sink for its users, but its huge scale also triggered all kinds of new data center infrastructure technologies that have been widely adopted by the rest of the tech industry.
We can’t know until we tread along the path.
Tomi Engdahl says:
You have probably heard talk about how design can tackle the big societal challenges we’re facing. But are designers really empowered to do this? And even if they were, do they have the right tools to tackle complex environmental challenges like Climate Change? In this article, I will talk about the reality for most designers and call on the industry to commit to designing for sustainability. Are you ready to transform design?
https://www.vincit.fi/en/transforming-design-for-the-last-decade/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bottoms Up: The Ballmer Peak Is Real, Study Says
Creative problem solving gets easier with lubrication.
https://observer.com/2012/04/bottoms-up-the-ballmer-peak-is-real-study-says/amp/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Meet the Roomba’s Ancestor: The Cybernetic Tortoise
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/space-age/meet-roombas-ancestor-cybernetic-tortoise
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Inside Story of the First Picture of a Black Hole
https://spectrum.ieee.org/aerospace/astrophysics/the-inside-story-of-the-first-picture-of-a-black-hole
Tomi Engdahl says:
In a Distracted World, Solitude Is a Competitive Advantage
https://hbr.org/2017/10/in-a-distracted-world-solitude-is-a-competitive-advantage?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social
“Always remember: Your focus determines your reality.” Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn shares this advice with Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars, but in our hyper-distracted work world, it’s advice that we all need to hear.
Technology has undoubtedly ushered in progress in a myriad of ways. But this same force has also led to work environments that inundate people with a relentless stream of emails, meetings, and distractions. In 2010, Eric Schmidt, then the CEO of Google, shared a concern with the world: “Every two days, we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization until 2003. I spend most of my time assuming the world is not ready for the technology revolution that will be happening soon.” Are we able to process the volume of information, stimuli, and various distractions coming at us each and every day?
A significant volume of research has outlined the problem with this onslaught of information. Research by the University of London reveals that our IQ drops by five to 15 points when we are multitasking.
Tomi Engdahl says:
50 Cognitive Biases in the Modern World
https://www.visualcapitalist.com/50-cognitive-biases-in-the-modern-world/
Tomi Engdahl says:
College Initiatives For 2020, Part IV: Want To Improve Student Success? Start By Improving Introductory Courses
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2020/02/06/college-initiatives-for-2020-part-iv-transforming-the-large-introductory-course/?utm_source=FBPAGE&utm_medium=social&utm_content=3164158991&utm_campaign=sprinklrForbesMainFB#5cda0e4120c2
positivequotes 45 says:
niccccccce post
Tomi Engdahl says:
“When you get negative feedback from any direction, there’s no question: It feels bad. But our study suggests that managers facing employee criticism can deal with that negative feeling and keep their focus on improving their creativity.”
A Subordinate’s Criticism Makes You More Creative
https://hbr.org/2020/03/a-subordinates-criticism-makes-you-more-creative?utm_campaign=hbr&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook
people reviewed negatively by a manager or a peer showed low levels of creativity—but for managers critiqued by a lower-ranking employee, the opposite was true. Their conclusion: A subordinate’s criticism makes you more creative.
Yeun Joon Kim: People typically respond to negative feedback in one of two ways: They may feel threatened, become reluctant to experiment, and get distracted from their work. Or they may identify problems with their current performance and implement better strategies for getting things done. Which way people react depends on where the feedback came from. When employees are criticized by a boss or a peer, they tend to feel threatened. But when leaders are criticized by followers—employees they manage—they’re more likely to focus on getting better at their tasks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2020/03/06/eurooppa-etsii-uusia-digihankkeita-hyvinvoinnista-teollisuuteen/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2020/03/09/valmistavalle-teollisuudelle-uusia-ideoita/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Creativity of ADHD
More insights on a positive side of a “disorder”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-creativity-of-adhd/
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is typically described by the problems it presents. It is known as a neurological disorder, marked by distractibility, impulsivity and hyperactivity, which begins in childhood and persists in adults. And, indeed, ADHD may have negative consequences for academic achievement, employment performance and social relationships.
But ADHD may also bring with it an advantage: the ability to think more creatively. Three aspects of creative cognition are divergent thinking, conceptual expansion and overcoming knowledge constraints. Divergent thinking, or the ability to think of many ideas from a single starting point, is a critical part of creative thinking. Previous research has established that individuals with ADHD are exceptionally good at divergent thinking tasks, such as inventing creative new uses for everyday objects, and brainstorming new features for an innovative cell phone device.
Uninhibited imaginations: Creativity in adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886905003764?via%3Dihub
Tomi Engdahl says:
The US Is Only the 9th Most Innovative Economy in the World
New competitors are on the rise. So why has the United States lost significant footing on the Innovation Index in recent years?
https://www.designnews.com/electronics-test/us-only-9th-most-innovative-economy-world/103911118962548?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=12608&elq_cid=876648
Tomi Engdahl says:
Crystal creates a supercontinuum breakthrough
https://phys.org/news/2020-03-crystal-supercontinuum-breakthrough.html
Researchers have generated a wide range of colors from a single laser after discovering a new process for achieving so-called “supercontinuum generation.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://innovationcloud.com/blog/innovations-to-solve-the-key-challenge-in-avocado-production.html?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=blog&utm_content=innovacado_sa_fi
Tomi Engdahl says:
Farewell to Impostor Syndrome
https://talented.fi/en/events/farewell-to-impostor-syndrome/
Developer, you’re more talented than you feel! It’s time to kiss the impostor syndrome goodbye and finally feel as competent as you really are.
Tomi Engdahl says:
When to Copy Ideas, When to Steal Ideas.
“Good artists copy. Great artists steal” plays on a truth that whenever we build something new, we’re really building upon what’s currently there, and that ought to be acknowledged and embraced unashamedly. It provocatively contradicts a pure notion of creativity we pretend is the case publicly. The quote says actually, we all know privately how it really works, and it’s OK!
When to Copy Ideas, When to Steal Ideas
https://davnicwil.com/when-to-copy-ideas-when-to-steal-ideas/
Copy and steal stand for opposite ends of the scale in the creative process. Copy being to borrow an idea for its known useful results, steal being to take ownership of an idea and extend it to create some novel result.
It’s very important to note that while more skill is implied the further you go towards stealing, copying is not bad. On the contrary, it’s explicitly good. An artist needs to do both. The question becomes, when to copy and when to steal?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mitä Design Sprintin luoja Jake Knapp opetti suomalaisille edelläkävijöille
https://blogi.meom.fi/mita-design-sprintin-luoja-jake-knapp-opetti-suomalaisille-edellakavijoille
Jos lähtee takomaan oppia päähän, niin miksei hankkisi sitä suoraan parhaalta.
Tomin innostus Design Sprintiä kohtaan oli alkanut niin ikään auringon alla. Edellisenä talvena, Thaimaahan suuntautuneen lomareissun matkalukemiseksi valikoitui hiljattain ilmestynyt Jake Knappin kirja Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days.
Teoksessa olivat kaikki oikeat elementit: design, ongelmien ratkaiseminen, Google Venturesissa luotu prosessi, start-up-maailma ja sprint-ajattelu.
Tomin syynätessä Design Sprintin ja Design Thinkingin eroja interwebin syvyyksissä, osui hän saksalaisen Design Sprintiin erikoistuneen designtoimiston, AJ&Smartin YouTube-kanavalle.
https://youtu.be/uvTTgCUNITI
Tomi Engdahl says:
100 Little Ideas
http://www.collaborativefund.com/blog/100-little-ideas/
A List of ideas, in no particular order and from different fields, that help explain how the world works
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nervous system manipulation by electromagnetic fields from monitors
https://patents.google.com/patent/US6506148B2/en
Tomi Engdahl says:
Quantum Sensor Receives From 0 Hz To 1000 GHz
https://hackaday.com/2020/03/24/quantum-sensor-receives-from-0-hz-to-1000-ghz/
Although it isn’t that uncommon to have broadband radio coverage in a single device, going from 0 Hz to 1000 GHz with one antenna and receiver is a bit much. But not for the US Army it seems, because they’ve developed a quantum sensor that can cover that range.
The technology uses Rydberg atoms, which are atoms with a highly excited valence electron.
https://www.army.mil/article/233809/army_scientists_create_innovative_quantum_sensor
Tomi Engdahl says:
Opinion: “We can push to create spaces within classrooms, companies, boardrooms, and government offices where we can openly question and debate what engineering is and ought to be for.”
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/at-work/tech-careers/how-to-practice-activist-engineering
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jen Costillo Explains Why Hackers Thrive In A Recession
https://hackaday.com/2020/01/17/jen-costillo-explains-why-hackers-thrive-in-a-recession/
If you haven’t noticed, this is an absolutely fantastic time to be a hacker. The components are cheap, the software is usually free, and there’s so much information floating around online about how to pull it all together that even beginners can produce incredible projects their first time out of the gate. It’s no exaggeration to say that we’re seeing projects today which would have been all but impossible for an individual to pull off ten years ago.
But how did we get here, and perhaps more importantly, where are we going next? While we might arguably be in the Golden Age of DIY, creative folks putting together their own hardware and software is certainly nothing new. As for looking ahead, the hacker and maker movement is showing no signs of slowing down. If anything, we’re just getting started. With a wider array of ever more powerful tools at our disposal, the future is very literally whatever we decide it is.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2020/02/18/dna-now-stands-for-data-and-knowledge-accumulation/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/at-work/tech-careers/how-to-practice-activist-engineering
Tomi Engdahl says:
Using a new online coding tool from iRobot, kids can learn to program robots from scratch on their computers or tablets.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/home-robots/irobot-launches-robot-simulator-free-online-curriculum-for-robotics-education
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://edu.irobot.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.cyberpunks.com/what-is-cyberpunk-the-new-normal/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Public transport of the future: more than just emission-free
https://www.theexplorer.no/stories/transportation2/public-transport-of-the-future-more-than-just-emission-free/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Princeton researchers discover how loners and introverts will save society
https://www.fastcompany.com/90482607/princeton-researchers-discover-how-loners-and-introverts-will-save-society?partner=mashable
Loners are not dysfunctional failures of the herd. They save the herd. They are herd heroes.
This is the finding of Princeton researchers who empirically demonstrated that across the animal kingdom, loners—defined as “individuals out of sync with a coordinated majority”—likely serve as evolutionary insurance plans, ensuring species survival. For example, if a pandemic of a coronavirus called, say, COVID-19, hit a species, the introverted shut-ins who stayed alone in their homes until they received vaccines would have a 100% survival rate. Their antisocial tendencies would make them invulnerable to the group threat.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Satire from The Borowitz Report
New Evidence Indicates Intelligence Not Contagious
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/new-evidence-indicates-intelligence-not-contagious/amp
Tomi Engdahl says:
Do we see reality as it is? | Donald Hoffman
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oYp5XuGYqqY&feature=youtu.be
Cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman is trying to answer a big question: Do we experience the world as it really is … or as we need it to be? In this ever so slightly mind-blowing talk, he ponders how our minds construct reality for us.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Like biological organisms, however, it is not the existence of a connective network alone but how it is organised that ultimately defines how useful it is to the organism.
https://medium.com/@jhweir/weco-and-the-global-brain-b8947b6793ae
As we near the end of 2015, almost half of humanity is now connected to the internet. This number has been steadily increasing by just over 200 million a year for the last decade. If this trend continues, the whole planet could be connected within the next 20–30 years.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Subliminally Hack Your Heart with ambienBeat
A wrist-worn heart rate regulator to help manage stress and stay awake
https://www.hackster.io/news/subliminally-hack-your-heart-with-ambienbeat-e3db6fbdb6f8
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Busier You Are, the More You Need Quiet Time
https://hbr.org/2017/03/the-busier-you-are-the-more-you-need-quiet-time?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hbr
Recent studies are showing that taking time for silence restores the nervous system, helps sustain energy, and conditions our minds to be more adaptive and responsive to the complex environments in which so many of us now live, work, and lead. Duke Medical School’s Imke Kirste recently found that silence is associated with the development of new cells in the hippocampus, the key brain region associated with learning and memory. Physician Luciano Bernardi found that two-minutes of silence inserted between musical pieces proved more stabilizing to cardiovascular and respiratory systems than even the music categorized as “relaxing.” And a 2013 study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, based on a survey of 43,000 workers, concluded that the disadvantages of noise and distraction associated with open office plans outweighed anticipated, but still unproven, benefits like increasing morale and productivity boosts from unplanned interactions.
But cultivating silence isn’t just about getting respite from the distractions of office chatter or tweets. Real sustained silence, the kind that facilitates clear and creative thinking, quiets inner chatter as well as outer.
This kind of silence is about resting the mental reflexes that habitually protect a reputation or promote a point of view. It’s about taking a temporary break from one of life’s most basic responsibilities: Having to think of what to say.
Cultivating silence, as Hal Gregersen writes in a recent HBR article, “increase[s] your chances of encountering novel ideas and information and discerning weak signals.” When we’re constantly fixated on the verbal agenda—what to say next, what to write next, what to tweet next—it’s tough to make room for truly different perspectives or radically new ideas. It’s hard to drop into deeper modes of listening and attention. And it’s in those deeper modes of attention that truly novel ideas are found.
Even incredibly busy people can cultivate periods of sustained quiet time.
Here are four practical ideas:
1) Punctuate meetings with five minutes of quiet time. If you’re able to close the office door, retreat to a park bench, or find another quiet hideaway, it’s possible to hit reset by engaging in a silent practice of meditation or reflection.
2) Take a silent afternoon in nature. You need not be a rugged outdoors type to ditch the phone and go for a simple two-or-three-hour jaunt in nature.
3) Go on a media fast. Turn off your email for several hours or even a full day, or try “fasting” from news and entertainment. While there may still be plenty of noise around—family, conversation, city sounds—you can enjoy real benefits by resting the parts of your mind associated with unending work obligations and tracking social media or current events.
4) Take the plunge and try a meditation retreat: Even a short retreat is arguably the most straightforward way to turn toward deeper listening and awaken intuition.
The world is getting louder. But silence is still accessible—it just takes commitment and creativity to cultivate it.