Redefining innovation

- Let's redefine innovation. Innovation is creating a new future by transforming ideas into value. I'll say that one more time. Innovation is creating a new future by transforming ideas into value. Let's unpack this. Innovation is creating a new future. The future is happening whether you like it or not. Tomorrow is happening, it's coming, and innovation is about changing tomorrow to a different future. I like to say this, why not take agency over the future and make it into what you want? Instead of being reactive about tomorrow, be proactive about it. Here's where creativity sneaks into the conversation. Think about the word ideas. Creativity is the ability to create ideas. This means creativity is not only for the artists, the painters, musicians, and dancers. Anyone has the ability to create ideas and that includes you. You are creative. Once you have an idea, you need to actually do something with it. That's where the word transform becomes important. You need to turn that idea into reality. And the way you do this is by following a process, the innovation process. I'll share more about that later. Last, you want to take your transformed idea and create value. It's about making it something meaningful and valuable for your target audience, whether that's for you, your customers, or other people. And by the way, this doesn't necessarily mean financial value. There could be intangible benefits too. Feelings of confidence, clarity, or hope for the future. Creativity is the fuel for innovation. Ideas are put through the innovation process and it results in value. This is how innovation is creating a new future by transforming ideas into value. Now, let's talk about why you should innovate. First, innovation helps you de-risk the unknown. Whenever you start a new project, your amount of risk is actually at the highest because you haven't done anything yet. So you don't know what you don't know. And your investment is at the lowest because you're still determining the time, money, energy, and people needed. Your goal through the journey of innovation is to continue to lower that risk by the time you get to implementation. Because you don't want to have a lot of risk when you go and implement something. Conversely, your investment increases when you get to implementation 'cause you're going to spend more time, money, and other resources as your ideas take shape. What you're hoping for is by the time you get to implementation, your risk is the lowest as your investment is at the highest. This is what innovation helps you do. It helps you de-risk the unknown and it gives you confidence to move forward. The second reason to innovate is that nobody is safe from disruption. Did you know that 52% of Fortune 500 companies from the year 2000 are extinct? 52% of Fortune 500 companies from the year 2000 no longer exist! This is a staggering statistic. Some of these were the leading brands in America. And even beyond brands, it's possible that whole industries can be disrupted. Remember taxis? In 2014, the right to operate a taxi in New York City called a New York medallion was worth over a million dollars. That's huge, right? In terms of market share for the ground business travel market, ride-hailing had about 8%, taxis 37%, and rental cars 55%. Four years later in 2018, the valuation of those taxi medallions dropped to $170,000. That's over an 80% drop from four years prior. Ride-hailing increased from 8% to 70.5% of the market. Taxis dropped to 6% and rental cars 23%. It was a huge disruption by companies like Uber and Lyft in only four years. In 2021, the medallion dropped as low as $25,000. That's 98% less than seven years prior, and that's because most of us chose to ride with Uber or Lyft. What this example shows us is that you disrupt or you be disrupted. Again, you either disrupt or be disrupted. And the choice is up to you. Now you know why innovation is needed. What will you choose? Will you choose to be the disruptor, or will you choose to be the disrupted? In the next chapter, you'll learn how to become the disruptor. You excited?