WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF INNOVATION?

The term "innovation" gets thrown around quite frequently by people, companies, and brands. All vying for attention. But what is the definition? Our definition, is the process of taking an idea, applying it, scaling it,  and communicating it in a way that resonates with the target consumer. It is the fundamental way a company adapts and evolves to stay relevant.  The consumer must see, touch, or feel the innovation and perceive its added value or it is not a real solution. 

INNOVATING THROUGH DESIGN, PROCESS, AND FUNCTION

We all can agree the world is more connected than ever before and with that connection comes the colliding of products all competing for space in consumer’s lives.  However, innovation is not just idea generation, and it is not just products and technology alone.

Innovation is in creation of processes, fostering risk taking cultures, enhancing productivity, creating products that add value, and ultimately reducing the compromising of contradictions.

Therefore, a repeatable process model for sustainable innovation must be built into the DNA of the company and constantly reinforced for continuous improvement. It starts with management nurturing an environment of risk taking and accountability.

WHAT IS INNOVATION VS. INVENTION, AND WHY BOTH ARE IMPORTANT?

Innovation should not be confused with invention.  Invention is defined as anything new such as the first-time creation of a product or process. Innovation is an improvement on something or someone makes a significant new value contribution to an existing product or process. 

Innovation equals growth.  Innovation often is generated out of something of necessity or annoyance.  For example, is there something that personally affects you that you really want to change?  But how do you take that same idea generation and application and apply it on a company level?  How can past innovations be potential future failures? In order to stay relevant companies must be in a state of constant but calculated change built on risk taking. The process includes exploring how things like usability, compromises, consumer’s emotional attachment, aesthetics, functionality, and property vs. parameter can be leveraged to add value to both consumers and the business.

HOW CAN A COMPANY SUCCESSFULLY INNOVATE?

Have balance.  A balanced pipeline of big and small ideas and a balance of ideation and execution.  Big ideas take time, money, communication, resources, collaboration across diverse teams, iterative prototyping, and room for productive failure to finally turn into a real solution. A balanced development pipeline of big and small ideas is essential. It allows for strategic innovation, product roadmaps to be built, fostered by a culture where the big ideas can be nurtured while the small ideas can be more immediate incremental successes.  Innovation ideation is relatively fast and easy, to commercialize the solutions is where systematic processes are necessary for a consistent innovation pipeline and business value.

HOW THE SQUAD HELPS COMPANIES

We offer a range of services helping business owners and leadership determine competitive advantages.

We believe in building products that are both functional and aesthetically pleasing to our sensory systems.  Visually attractive products must also be pleasing to our touch and sound senses.  Just as processes must be built to appease perceptions and the emotional processing of learning and interpretation.

We are a one-stop-shop. We work from innovation, R&D, design strategies, product and process generation through product development and execution.  Ultimately, we create products and services that resonate with the enterprise’s consumer and bring value to the organization.

We would love to hear your thoughts. Reach out anytime! www.thesquadnation.com or stephanie@thesquadpdx.com.