One Apple A Day #115
“Innovation can be defined simply as a "new idea, device or method”. However, innovation is often also viewed as the application of better solutions that meet new requirements, unarticulated needs, or existing market needs.“ - Wikipedia
"1: the introduction of something new
2: a new idea, method, or device: novelty” — https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innovation
“The process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value or for which customers will pay.
To be called an innovation, an idea must be replicable at an economical cost and must satisfy a specific need. Innovation involves deliberate application of information, imagination and initiative in deriving greater or different values from resources, and includes all processes by which new ideas are generated and converted into useful products. In business, innovation often results when ideas are applied by the company in order to further satisfy the needs and expectations of the customers.” — http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/innovation.html
Innovation is surely one of the keywords of the last decade. Everyone wants to be innovative. Every company craves for innovation.
“Innovate or die” is one of the mantras in the digital/tech industry.
But what is innovation? What does it mean to innovate? I listed before a few definitions I found online. They all have in common the idea of novelty. To innovate is about newness. A new idea, product, method, device. But it looks like the “newness” is not enough. In particular from the business point of view, to innovate also requires executing and delivering. And what about the outcomes? If no one benefits from a new idea, even if flawlessly executed, can we still call it innovation?
When I’m trying to understand a word, the first place I like to start is its etymology.
“1540s, "introduce as new” (trans.), from Latin innovatus, past participle of innovare “to renew, restore;” also “to change,” from in- “into” (from PIE root *en “in”) + novus “new” (see new). Intransitive meaning “bring in new things, alter established practices” is from 1590s. Related: Innovated; innovating.“ — http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=innovate
So, the original meaning of the verb "to innovate” is “to renew something” or “to change something existing”.
According to this definition, innovation is not about having a new idea in itself. It is more about changing something that already exists. On top of that, the definition in itself doesn’t carry an evaluation about the change. Innovation is just doing something differently, and not in a better way.
Said so, languages are not fixed. As a way to communicate and create, they evolve and change with society. So, what does it mean to innovate nowadays?
It continues tomorrow, maybe.