Innovation and the Human Factor

One of the most common mistakes made by corporations when faced with the prospect of technological innovation is in completely missing the intention of the innovation.

Too often focus centers on the attractive margins and duplicity that will unhinge the flood gates of cash and save the day. While there’s nothing wrong with developing wealth producing innovative technology, it distances the amount of time to the company’s ability to find its next innovation. The mistake being made here is a lack of value placed on the end user. In essence, the purpose it serves. To be useful innovation must be designed to fulfill an end user’s purpose.

Even in cases of technological innovation made by pure technology companies, when distilled into its most basic form, technology serves the needs of people. It can be used as an enabler for saving time, reaching higher efficiency, breaking new grounds in quality, and a variety of other purposes.

Ideas require human input to reach innovation status, from implementation to measurable marketable results. If you have an innovation process, ensure it is defined by a set of needs and aligned to a matrix of purposefulness through its development cycle. Expectations are created based on promised outcomes through the innovation development cycle so an organization and and innovation program must be prepared to take on new ideas as they begin to flow.

Starting a successful innovation program is about cultural transformation and a refocus on the end user. It is about controlled change and process design. Repeatable and successful innovation appears when the purposefulness, planning, and analysis integrated into the process has taken place.

Be warned, if you want successful technology innovation, do not take your eye off the end human purpose it will serve.