Fly Me To The Moon...Or Wherever

Those with an eye for innovation will have noted the recent launch of the Indian mission to Mars.  While they haven't got there yet, at time of writing all seems to be progressing nicely.

Quite apart from the desire to be the first Asian country to reach Mars, what is it that motivates a society like India to take up these challenges?  By extension, what innovation processes are necessary to achieve such a goal?

The Psychology Wiki defines innovation as referring "to both radical or incremental changes to products, processes or services. The often unspoken goal of innovation is to solve a problem."

Some may argue that there is no problem to be solved by sending a spaceship hurtling towards Mars, and the real problem remains at home with the grinding poverty of many of India's citizenry.

But such innovation more often than not adds value to society in the broader global context.  In addition, those countries and enterprises that do not innovate run a real danger of being surpassed or destroyed by those that do.

There are two basic types of innovation; sustaining and disruptive. For companies, the former means continuing to approach their core markets in a similar fashion while the latter "significantly changes a market or product category".

By now most people recognise that innovation and a good dose of creativity are essential to an organisation's survival. Globalization, increased competition and the increasingly rapid changes in technology, mean that those enterprises that do not change and adapt simply wither on the vine and die.

Paul Simpson, writing about the psychology of innovation, says:

"Homo sapiens have, since the 10 commandments, had a bit of a soft spot for concise lists which tell us what to do. They imply that if we follow their advice we will be suitably rewarded. 

But the bad news about innovation is that suggestion-boxes, brainstorming sessions, away days, consultants and 183 techniques to encourage creativity (as listed on Wikipedia) won’t, by themselves, transform your business into the kind of free-thinking, ground-breaking, market-leading corporate utopia you might be hoping for".

It is really all about company culture and not fancy creativity suites.  It also takes dedicated time and budget.

Ranjeet Laungani, Nielsen's VP for Innovation Practice, examined how India innovates in a recent study. Five of his key findings were:

1. It takes 50% of Indian companies one to two years to bring an innovation from concept to launch.
2. In the year that they launch their innovation they spend as much as 34% of their budget on advertising and another 30% on trade and consumer promotion.
3. 75% of organisations measure the level of innovation success by their growth in market share. This followed by brand awareness and health measures and the Return On Investment (ROI) that the innovation has delivered.
4. Nine out of 10 organizations surveyed identified that sharp consumer insight led to innovations in their organisations.
5. 20% of industry professionals across sectors relayed that more than 25% of their ideas made it to the shelves

Ranjeet also reminds us that 90% of newly introduced products fail in the year they launch, so innovation is not in itself a guarantee of success.  There are also several factors that can impede the progress of innovation within an enterprise. These include:

• Too lengthy a period from idea to market
• Long-term strategic planning being hijacked by short-term priorities
• Insufficient budget to fund innovation
• Internal teams with conflicting priorities
• An unwillingness to accept that failure is very much part of the innovation process

So while the success of a mission to Mars cannot be guaranteed it does prove the point that any innovation is based on risk taking.  As the old adage says "nothing ventured, nothing gained". 

Amartya Sen, the winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Economics, hypothesises that development is the key to freedom.  Perhaps ultimately it is this motivation that drives mankind to innovate.

Related articles

• What India's space scientists and street children have in common
• Will India get to Mars? A guide to the dangers ahead
• Failure isn't just good, it allows for extraordinary innovation
• Nobel Prize Winner Amartya Sen to Deliver the 2013 Kellogg Biennial Lecture on Jurisprudence

A Maker of "Things"

The Shoemaker and the Elves
The Brothers Grimm

"The problem is we no longer make 'things'".  So said an unemployed European architect in a recent BBC programme, on the problems of unemployment in that part of the world.

The Manchester City replica jersey that he bought when on a trip to Britain in his teens has a label 'Made in England'.  He challenged his fellow panellists to find a similar football jersey with the same manufacturer's mark today.  Inevitably,. a 2013 version will have 'Made in China' stamped on its label.

It got me thinking about just how important making 'things' were to an economy; as opposed to a country that acts solely as a financial hub and has little or no production of 'real objects'.  Or for that matter, an online hub that produces no real goods and simply trades on the products of others.

It is no coincidence that the most successful country in the Euro-zone is Germany who still have a solid engineering and manufacturing base.  Compare it to Spain where much of production has gone off-shore.  The latter has an unemployment rate that is now hovering around a quarter of its entire population.

I am fortunate to live in country that still produces 'things' that other countries need to sustain their population.  In our case its agricultural products and on the back of this, our economy ticks along even though we are far away from our principal markets.

While it is true that the Internet makes it easy to work from anywhere, and within any time zone, not everyone's profession or trade easily translates into an online opportunity.  My own consultancy and sphere of employment works well across countries but others are not so well off.

The next big challenge to global employment is not the ongoing shift of production to Asia, or even robotics, but rather, the 'Internet of Things'.  Many of those employed in intermediary roles in information technology will find themselves superfluous to requirements, as machines talk directly to machines without the need for human intervention.

This is a trend that is neither going to be halted or gradually fade away. John Chambers of CISCO presents a rosy vision of the future when he says "factor in societal benefits to citizens, communities and countries, as well as consumer benefits, you begin to get a sense for the Internet of Everything’s potential to enable improved quality of life, richer experiences, new capabilities and increased economic value".

He goes on to note "Along with great opportunity, the emergence of the Internet of Everything will present technology, organizational, process, regulatory, cultural, and other challenges".

I would suggest that to be an active participant in the 'The Internet of Things' age one will need to work and live in a society that fosters innovation. We are all aware that economies that are the real drivers of innovation. A sick economy is not conducive to building an environment where employment growth can be built upon the back of innovation.

CTO Scott Morrison writing in an article for Gigacom points out that Apple created an economy around the iPhone "by designing both a platform on which third parties could innovate, and then the means to capitalize on their applications". And by creating this economy all manner of people then had the opportunity to build products and to innovate.

As I wrote in a 2011 post, the emergence of a global data field and machines talking to machines without human intervention creates both challenges and opportunities.

The 'Internet of Things' mean new business models and these will have profound implications for employment.  Smart grids and similar infrastructure utilities will affect all of our lives and by extension, our employment options.

If you are manufacturing the actual 'things' that interconnect then you are on to a winner.  If though, your purpose thus far is to be a technical or bureaucratic intermediary, then a quick course in cheese-making 101 might be your best bet.

Related articles

• We can't let the Internet of Things become the Tyranny of Things [GigaOM]
• What Is The Internet of Things?
• Government Pumps £8.6m Into 'Internet Of Things' And Green IT Research
• Getting Connected

Multichannel Innovation In Mobile Marketing

NET-A-PORTER’s Window Shop
The fashion etailer created a pop-up store window that allowed shoppers to use iPads and smartphones to bring the products to life.

Net-A-Porter won and innovation in mobile marketing award at E-Consultancy's Innovation Awards 2012.