So, what do you do?

I come across many people who have no idea what think do, because they have no idea what innovation management is.  It is very easy when you work with something day in, day out to become complacent that everyone knows and understands what you do, when in fact, outside of large organisations and the innovation industry, I find that “innovation management” requires some explanation. 

Put simply innovation management is the process of managing innovation.  OK, you can see what I did there.  I took similar words and re-ordered them.  Rather like saying the same phrase, only LOUDER, to someone who doesn’t speak your language.  I’m guessing that wasn’t much help.

So let’s go right back to basics.

What is innovation?

Everyone has their own view on what innovation means. Search for “innovation” on-line and you will find many debates attempting to establish a common definition. I believe it is quite a vague word, and that the meaning depends on the perception of the individual, and within business is often driven by business needs.

My personal view is that innovation means doing something in a different way, hopefully to achieve a positive outcome, and so innovation can really embrace just about any business issue, from developing of new products through to changes in corporate culture. 

Innovations stem from ideas, and ideas come from thinking creative thinking.  The brilliant collections of ideas that come from a creative thinking session require a process to analyse, select, test, and implement to bring them to life.  That‘s innovation management – making ideas happen. To take an idea from germination through to implementation requires different people, with different skill sets and expertise at each stage.  The person or teams responsible for managing the innovation are the guiding hand through the process. 

What I love about innovation management is that it doesn’t provide the answers, they come from a myriad of ideas which can be generated through creative thinking techniques, what it provides are the tools and support to turn ideas into reality.