”Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
We live in a time where everything is happening really fast and everything is changing and progressing really fast. Constantly, there are a lot of new things, ideas, discoveries and innovations around us. It has become quit hard to keep pace with all those changes, especially if you have an idea of your own too!
Oh, well, in order to stay on track and continue to be a part of this race, we should warm up first, and learn some basics, as all good students do. We will start by the book, with a little bit of theory. As a start, we will learn what innovations are really about. Ready, set, go!
The origin of the word innovation comes from Latin word innovatus, derived from the verb ‘innovare’ – restore or change + ” into ” + ” novus ” – new. So, with all the pluses and minuses, innovation represents the process of changing or restoring something that already exists, and not, as the majority thinks, the process of introducing or finding something completely new.
The term innovation is nowadays associated with something positive, valuable and worthwhile in many ways. But what makes it interesting, this was not exactly the case in the past. If we go back to 1600, if someone had called you an innovator, you would have automatically been called a heretic and this “compliment” would probably cost you a sentence of life imprisonment or even a pair of eyes or ears!
But hey, don’t worry, time has changed now, so feel free to open your eyes and continue reading. Through the centuries, up until the 19th century, the term innovation itself has changed. During this period, innovations were mostly related to science and industry, following the Industrial Revolution, and relying mainly on inventions and technical achievements. But slowly, year by year, innovations started to walk their own way, leaving the inventions to walk their own. Therefore, at the beginning of the 20th century, the spotlight from the inventions slowly turns to innovation.
As Joseph Schumpeter defined it, the invention represents an act of intellectual creativity that is not guided by the goal and the idea of a possible economic benefit, while innovation is a nicely packed and adapted invention with the elaborated business model, target group and some particular benefit for its future users. And yes, innovation often brings financial and economic benefits.
Sometimes, something does not have to be done much better; it’s just enough to do the same thing differently. You don’t believe us? Well, Microsoft, Google, Apple and Cisco were not the inventors of microprocessors and the Internet, but they somehow managed to use something already existing in a new way, using a fresh and different approach, and that’s how their story started! The iPod, MS-DOS system and Word are nothing more than one of the most famous world innovations, not inventions.
An innovative person is a person who is, by nature, but also by education, full of ideas, comments and propositions. Do you recognize yourself in these words? If yes, we think it’s the right time to start with the realization of your ideas 🙂