Innovation may in some cases be disruptive but it can also be incremental. And counter to what people might assume, depending on the situation, incremental innovation can be just as successful and probably even more in certain cases. Innovation often becomes disruptive because people and businesses tend to wait until things get really bad to take steps that they ideally should have taken, to begin with. Avoiding certain problems or situations may lead to them accumulating to a point after which innovation would necessarily involve disruption. One thing that may solve this problem is clarity- clarity on all levels of operations, to understand the best steps to continue incremental innovation and growth.

Having analyzed, and coached innovative and creative talent and having recruited and built innovation teams in the leading corporations and agencies around the world for many years, I have seen how innovative solutions can be designed to be groundbreaking and unexpectedly desirable by disrupting the way society works. Think of Uber and AirBnB.

Innovation can be disruptive.

Innovation today can be designed to be as disruptive, as necessary, and yet not too disruptive or so the process of disruption is graduated. Think of the iPhone generations by Apple. And yet, there are times where the new innovative solution is so successful in changing perceptions, habits and solutions that the swelling of change can not be avoided.

We want change but we don’t want to change.

The fascinating thing about human nature is that we desire change and yet we avoid change, holding on to what we know and our habits, regardless of if what we were familiar with, worked well to solve our problems or not. This is something we do as individuals and as a society. And so, ordinary change and even innovation will tend to be resisted until it’s completely unavoidable and necessary.

Now is the time for change.

Now, when change unexpectedly happens whether it’s to a society or to an individual, like the way a pandemic or economic crisis causes our current lifestyle, societal solutions and routines to not work for us any longer, that dysfunctional change releases us from clinging to the old methods and notions, and it releases us to begin to readily look for and try to accept new innovative solutions.

Change on an individual level, can happen internally as well as externally. EG: Internally our personal growth needs often change to the point where we’re not interested in the work we do any longer or externally we’ve won a promotion or lost a job causing our work situation to change. Sometimes, this change occurs the way we wish for it to and sometimes not.

In all of my years working in this space of design and innovation, I’ve seen how people, businesses, and society want innovation and change but are too comfortable and accustomed to what they have, to really embrace change. Well, today, what we’ve known and have become comfortable with is no longer the same. And there is no certainty about the future.

In light of the times we’re in today globally, the innovation that will come will not be as disruptive as what we had hoped for, waited for and welcomed, because as a human society, we have been disrupted. The future is uncertain and now the world is waiting and hoping desperately for solutions.

The world is waiting for innovation.

Throughout my career and my life I’ve never seen a better time for innovation. The world has been simultaneously disrupted and globally everything we’ve come to know as normal has been disrupted. Every country, every class level, every market, every aspect of our lives, personal, professional, business to business, business to consumer, our values, our desires, our lifestyle and so on, has been disrupted. The world is scrambling, looking for, trying and hoping for new solutions.

Innovation is not easy.

Now, while the world is ready for innovation let’s be honest, creating innovation is not easy. If innovation were easy we wouldn’t have any problems left to solve and that’s not the case, is it? The news doesn’t highlight all the millions of startups that fail. Nor does it highlight all the failed choices companies and businesses make. We only hear of when they succeed. Hardly ever do you hear about all of the challenges businesses have, choosing the right talent to help them solve these challenges.

The process of innovation is complicated.

Today the biggest challenge I hear from creative professionals is “I know what my client needs to do to transform their business but they don’t hear me.”

Are you ready to be an agent of change?

This is what we are here for. Having worked in the industry for so many years, we understand the challenges of innovation. We understand why businesses don't understand how design works to solve their problems. We understand how employers don’t always know how to recognize and harness talent in a way that helps them mutually succeed.

Are you ready to take a leap of faith and begin this journey towards innovation and growth? If yes, we are here to help you succeed. Schedule an appointment with me and let’s continue doing great work !