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"An idea is true if it leads to action," someone wise once said. Great success is built only around a clear and crystalline idea. One must keep moving and cling to new ideas for success to continue.
Success requires innovation.
The word innovation comes from the verb 'to renew' or 'to make a new version of something that already exists'. To be born, innovation requires insight, creativity, and new thinking. It always means a significant improvement in an existing operation or thing. Innovation is an updated, better version of a product, service, business model, or social structure.
We must look at and see the world from a new perspective to invent innovation.
Aristotle - and other wise figures who have influenced our thinking - talked about new thinking changing the world. In ancient times, people's thinking was challenged by tragedies and comedies, which allowed viewers to gain new perspectives through the play, experience emotions, and expand their understanding of humanity.
Twisting our brains is worthwhile. When we look at things from a new angle, we open up possibilities to solve problems and improve our quality of life. This mental gymnastics is the same as creativity, in which rich state we can combine existing knowledge, skills, and resources in new ways. Then, a miracle happens: our solitary wandering ideas and thoughts meet, giving birth to new kinds of solutions, and – Eureka! (in Greek, "I have found it") Whether looking at a company's financial books or new products, it's quickly apparent which companies encourage their employees to be creative. For example, large tech giants such as Google and Apple are known for giving their employees space to experiment and develop new ideas. This allowance for space and creativity breeds innovations that change industries and create entirely new markets.
Innovation is therefore a critical success factor for an organization. Companies that can continuously innovate not only stay in the market but can also grow and lead the development of their sector – like Amazon, which has built a vast empire on innovation. It started as an online bookstore but has expanded into technology services such as cloud services and artificial intelligence, using innovation at the core of its business. A similar eureka moment must have also occurred at Nokia, once known for its tires and rubber boots, which looked to the future and saw mobile phones on the horizon.
How to create a culture in a company where innovation thrives?
It requires a leader who allows an open work environment where failures are not shameful but part of the learning process. Through experimentation and development. It is wise to see that although not all experiments may lead to immediate success, they enable continuous learning and development.
Companies are some of the biggest influencers on societal development. Electrification of society, technological and digital breakthroughs, and the Industrial Revolution have brought us from caves to civilization.
This era demands all our innovation skills to combat climate change and improve healthcare.
Innovation is the key to the future. And if we want to have a future, now is the time for those innovations.
As humanity, we need to gather all our eurekas around the same round table and handle the situation as if we were leading a trembling company on the verge of bankruptcy.
The outcome depends on us. We already know the operating model: dialogue.
Marianne Kiskola is a guest blogger on the Frontline Forum, writing from the perspective of a language researcher and her second home country, Greece, about "internal climate change." Marianne is a language researcher, screenwriter, and non-fiction author with 11 published books, and a journalist with a strong background in communication and leadership. Currently, Marianne is working on her doctoral thesis on the language of encounter at the University of Jyväskylä, where she also lectures and coaches.
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