Business jargon is something we all use at work to describe common situations or concepts. In fact, we use jargon so much that over the years the words themselves tend to lose meaning, or their meanings get skewed.
As a regular feature on this blog, I take a minute to examine some of these jargon words in an attempt to help us remember what these words really mean.
"Innovation" is one of these words. I would define this word as "finding a new way of doing something that works better than the previously established way."
The part about finding the new way is important. Innovation can happen purposefully due to years of research and work. But, innovation can also happen by accident. One famous example is the Post-it, which was actually the result of an attempt to make stronger glue. It resulted in an accidental creation of a less-sticky glue that, when applied to paper, allows Post-its to be removable and re-usable today.
The word "innovation" has been around since the 1500s, and shares similar roots with the words "alter" and "renew." Because of these roots, innovation goes hand and hand with change, which we are seeing now with the automobile industry. Great change has swept through the industry, as the market redefines what it wants from a car as a product. As the car producers adapt, innovation has cropped up. An example of this is the hybrid car, which consumers like, because they are green and save on fuel.
A more extreme example of innovation, not in the auto industry but in personal transportation itself, was recently covered in a Wired Magazine article. It described a Florida retirement community with 77,000 residents, many of whom use electric golf carts to get around.
But they don’t just use the carts to get around the golf courses and recreation areas of the retirement community - they drive them in the city itself, which has built golf cart access around the roads and shopping centers so these residents can easily access them by golf cart.
Car-sharing is another innovation in transportation from ZipCar, a service that allows you to reserve a car, for a few hours or for a day, that’s already parked at a designated spot. You reserve it online, then go to the parking spot and drive away. When you’re done, you return it to the same parking spot. It’s applicable not only to the general public, but to businesses and to universities, where sometimes students aren’t able to bring their cars.
Paid car-sharing and electric golf carts for running errands around town may sound like strange concepts, especially since they are new. With the many universities and colleges in Raleigh, North Carolina, where I live, I’ve been seeing ZipCars on the roads once in a while. I don’t expect to see any golf carts any time soon though – they would be crushed on the I-440 Beltline!
But back to my word: the way to make innovations like these really work is to try them out in the appropriate market. Innovation, when it’s really good, catches on like wildfire through adaptation as people come to view the new way as better, easier or faster.
How can you foster innovation in your company? This is a burning question now, as the innovators during this recession could be the winners when it’s over and recovery and new growth commences. I suggest you create your company’s Great Comeback plan, as outlined in this Executive Briefing, which has the steps to allow for innovation while keeping ahead of the competition.
What innovations are happening in your industry now that you would have never expected? Leave a comment below and point out some examples.
Photo credit: jdanvers