Innovation is not about doing the next great thing. It is about doing the next thing.

Sometimes the next thing will be the next great thing, but more likely it will lead to another thing, and that next thing might be the next great thing. Or it may lead to nowhere.

Failure is always an option.

Innovation is in the doing and trying, not in the dreaming and waiting.

7 Responses to “Random thought about innovation”

1.   Key blogs in digital journalism (especially video) by andydickinson.net Says:
   September 3rd, 2007 at 4:26 pm

   [...]  Sensible, informed, challenging debate. [...]

2. Amy Gahran Says:
   September 3rd, 2007 at 4:49 pm

   Brilliant, Howard.

   Kinda reminds me of organizaitons (especially news orgs) that hesitate to experiment with new kinds of online projects because they’re not convinced that whatever they want to try “isn’t just a fad.”

   IMHO, whenever you experiment and learn from it, it’s NEVER wasted effort.

   - Amy Gahran

3. contentious.com - links for 2007-09-04 Says:
   September 4th, 2007 at 7:24 am

   [...] howardowens.com: media blog » Blog Archive » Random thought about innovation “Innovation is not about doing the next great thing. It is about doing the next thing. Failure is always an option. Innovation is in the doing and trying, not in the dreaming and waiting.” (tags: innovation tidbits+fodder) [...]

4. Jay Hamilton-Roth Says:
   September 4th, 2007 at 9:27 am

   Innovation is frequently evolution, not necessarily revolution.

5. Julia Says:
   September 4th, 2007 at 10:15 am

   When we hosted InnovationTrip for foreign business owners in 2006, one of the greatest lessons they learned was that failure is not only okay, but necessary for a company to grow. The fear of failure will only keep you from innovation. The key is to fail small and succeed big.

6. David Damouth Says:
   September 18th, 2007 at 10:03 pm

   In the corporate technical world, the words “innovation” and “creativity” are *defined* in terms of *useful* novelty. (And with rare exceptions, “useful” is ultimately defined in terms of the probability of future corporate profit.

7. Community Guy - Jake McKee » Innovation. The Next Thing. Says:
   October 10th, 2007 at 12:14 pm

   [...] From my new favorite blog by Howard Owens: Innovation is not about doing the next great thing. It is about doing the next thing. [...]

Post A Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.