I'VE GOT THIS IDEA

"It is always brave to say what everyone thinks."

Georges Duhamel (1884-1966) French writer

And with the reverse being true, much more challenging to say what no one thinks.

But that is the burden of innovation.

v2.0 YOU

"One of the greatest pains to human nature is the pain of a new idea."

Walter Bagehot (1826-1877) British economist

And not just when it comes to innovation leading to new things.

This applies equally well to personal innovation, and lack thereof.

When was the last time you did something to improve you?

DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION

"The greatest conqueror is he who overcomes the enemy without a blow."

Chinese proverb

There are numerous examples of this in business.

Apple's iTunes and various iDevices disrupting music playback equipment manufacturers and the music industry in general.

Vonage and similar companies offering Wi-Fi telephone services, disrupting traditional landline telephone service.

And maybe even Space X disrupting government space exploration.

What enemy will your company overcome without a blow?

ONLY WHAT YOU SEE, ONLY WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW?

"The eye sees only what the mind is prepared to comprehend."

Henri Bergson (1859-1941) French philosopher

You can also reverse this (the mind comprehends only what the eye can see), and considering both you should understand the main obstacle to innovation.

When you only see what you already know, and when you only know what you can see, you live in a very limited space.

REVOLUTIONARY THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES

"A great revolution is never the fault of the people, but of the government."

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

Late 18th/early 19th century German poet, novelist, dramatist

In business "government" is management.

And take heart; "revolutions" can lead to good as well as bad.

Don't fear them, plan for them.

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

"I start where the last man left off."

Thomas Alva Edison

Late 19th/early 20th century American inventor

Very little is completely original; your improvement of what already exists is progress.

ONE-QUARTER INNOVATION

"We forfeit three-quarters of ourselves in order to be like other people."

Arthur Schopenhauer

18th century German philosopher

The implication of that depends on how good or bad is the three-quarters.

Regardless, the point is still valid.

Most good comes from innovation and if we limit our ability to innovate to just one-quarter, we'll not likely accomplish much.

I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW YOU!

"The mind conceives with pain, but it brings forth with delight."

Joseph Joubert

18th century French moralist

We enjoy sharing what we worked hard to create.

What does that say about what is easy to do?

ORIGINALLY I DIDN'T THINK SO

"The more intelligent one is, the more men of originality one finds. Ordinary people find no difference between men."

Blaise Pascal

17th century French mathematician, physicist and philosopher

A bit judgmental but point taken.

Original thinking does not come easy (and no I'm not the first to conclude that.)

On Your Own

"Traveler, there is no path, paths are made by walking."

Antonio Machado

Early 20th century Spanish poet

Suggested by Paula Johnson

There are paths made by others we can choose to follow.

Take the ones best suited to you while always being receptive to the idea of making your own.

Because You Should, Not Because You Have

"A tradition without intelligence is not worth having."

T. S. Elliott

20th century English American poet

I think we can safely substitute "thought" for "intelligence", leading us to the primary message.

If you do things mostly or completely because that's the way you've always done them, why?

The Same Only Different

"It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation."

Herman Melville

19th century American writer

Apple would agree, Samsung maybe not.

What do you think?

Is Everything Old, New Again?

"All cases are unique and very similar to others."

T.S. Eliot

20th century American-English poet, playwright

Look for completely new ideas.

Create new variants from that which already exists.

Which works best for you?

The Art of Business

"Art is either plagiarism or revolution."

Paul Gaugin

19th century French artist

In business as well.

We most often "borrow" from others occasionally coming up with something entirely new.

When it is the latter we have a steep hill of doubt to climb before others see the revolution as we do, rather than just another folly.

The Change Debate: Which Side Are You On?

"The chains of habit are generally too weak to be felt, until they are too strong to be broken."

Samuel Johnson

18th century British author

One of many, often contradictory quotes having to do with change, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" being an example from the opposite point of view.

We all have to choose and for me, embracing rather than resisting change is the best course of action.

How about you?

Breaking the Management Habit

"Old habits are strong and jealous."

Dorothea Brande
Early 20th century American writer/editor

How much of the way you run your business is due to habit?

The Power of An Open Mind: Can You See It?

"Vision is the art of seeing things invisible."

Jonathan Swift
Early 18th century Irish essayist

I dabble in small, independent investments and as a result, meet a lot of entrepreneurs with new products and ideas. As you would expect, most do not warrant a second look while a very small number do.

Often these are ideas that most people initially reject; however, due to the entrepreneur's ability to see "things invisible", a few succeed.

How about you? Do you look for that which most cannot see?

Sales and Profit: Chicken or the Egg?

"Our inventions mirror our secret wishes."

Charles H. Duell
Late 19th Century Commissionaire US Patent Office

Too many business people focus on the sales and profit they hope will come from innovation and invention.

If those are their "secret wishes" they are missing the point.

Sales and profit are the result of successful innovation and invention. Invent and innovate product that fulfills the secret wishes of others and sales and profit will follow.

What are your secret wishes?

Innovation: The Silver Lining in Failure

"Create some tolerance for failure."

Tom Koulopoulos
Founder/CEO Delphi Group

There is opportunity in failure but your culture has to be open to it.

Are you?

Innovation: The Never Ending Need to Change

"I have never been in a situation where having money made it worse."

Clinton Jones

I can think of situations where having money does make a problem worse, in fact, many of them.

It does when management ceases to evolve their business because, they believe, they have enough cash to overcome whatever problems they have or will have.

That describes countless companies either now gone or soon to be, who, as recent as six months ago, saw no reason to alter how they did business given what they thought was adequate cash reserves.

Money, or lack thereof, is an indicator of past performance and the fact that a company has it does not mean they will in the future.