The future inevitably goes through innovating

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to continue being an artist once you grow up», Pablo Picasso

In a fast-paced world, where what is important is less and less deepened and the company lives day-to-day, I think the Pandemic has taught little. I keep hearing executives who lack strategies, who lead today but do not envision the future, say that future success depends on innovation. A word I think too used and little implemented. In fact, I think it's a term that is misunderstood and implemented with little conviction, in fact, a few companies are emphasizing it. Unfortunately, I believe that few companies are effectively aware of the importance of innovation, understood in its broadest sense, in its relevance in increasingly competitive markets and the key role it plays in the economic development of the company and society. .

Innovation, by “definition”, is the introduction of something new. (RAE. Creation or modification of a product, and its introduction into a market). Without innovation there is nothing new, without it there will be no progress. If an organization does not progress, it simply dies due to lack of competitiveness.

From a more philosophical view, innovation is really the main reason for the current existence of society. Well, despite possible undesirable consequences, every society seeks progress - therefore, innovation - as an element of positive change.

Fernando Barrenechea analyzes the importance of innovation, understood in its broadest sense, in its relevance in increasingly competitive markets and the key role it plays in the economic development of companies and society.Click to tweet

Before returning to this Global and complex vision of Innovation from its Micro (company) and Macro (society) vision. I think it is worth making a little reflection on the basis of innovation, as an element of change and of course progress.

In my opinion, the biggest difficulty to innovate is the ability to make accurate diagnoses. We all face complex problems, issues that require detailed analysis, comprehensive visions, always keeping calm trying to distance the analysis so that it is as realistic as possible.

Some professionals do this routinely. in the business world less and less - immediacy prevails over a sustainable vision for the future -, it is the day-to-day of doctors, when a patient enters a consultation the doctor can find a multitude of diagnoses which requires that be very methodical in your analyses.

Continuing with this example, the query generally proceeds from the general to the particular. Starting, analyzing the patient's environment, clinical history, life habits; It continues with a review that accompanies questions that define the symptoms, ruling out and analyzing new pathways. In some cases, greater depth is required with scanners, blood tests, etc. In short, the doctor uses all the resources at hand to understand the problem, narrow it down and define it.

Once the doctor has all the information, he proceeds to the diagnosis. The disease has been defined, as well as its scope and treatment. Each case is different and after the prescription, it is expected that the process will give results. Thus, after a period of observation, the doctor determines if the result has been positive or if he should use a different method or even return to the diagnostic phase. In this case, after corroborating or ruling out the initial perception, the procedure starts again.

The previous visit to the doctor serves to illustrate, in an extremely simplistic way, the process of solving a problem. In some cases following the commented case, the solution is reached after several attempts and it turns out to be simple. However, in many cases we find cases with apparently few results. Going back to the medical example, a second opinion, which in some cases absolutely refutes the theories of their colleagues and provides a cure in an obvious way. In the matter of the cases, it is not treated because he is an exceptional doctor, which he probably is, but because he made the correct diagnosis. What is determined by experience, the methodical analysis and knowing how to connect patterns between patients.

How many times in our daily lives do we face issues like this. They offer hundreds of edges, insurmountable solutions. How many times have we had to try again and again until we find the answer or even give up finding it? How do we solve complex problems in our organizations? Do we have developed methods or do we trust them? inspiration or experience? The reality is that while the above is very evident, very rarely do we follow even the slightest methodological process, we simply improvise.

Innovative organizations face a multitude of challenges and issues that do not present standard solutions every day. Knowing how to respond to these issues efficiently and quickly is what makes them competitive. Going back to the previous case, the greatest difficulty in solving them is not finding the right solution, but rather being able to make diagnoses that are not only accurate, but also efficient, precise, replicable, and relevant. This is relevant to the future.

Modern problem-solving methods provide organizations with the right tools to make accurate diagnoses – it is a necessary exercise, in which we usually stay at the initial approach and go around it, without questioning ourselves the validity of the reasoning that has led us to use it. This “psychological” inertia is one of the main enemies of innovation, of which we must be very aware.

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Going back to the macro vision, the role of innovation in our society. It is unquestionable how innovation, in recent decades, has become a key tool for progress and combating threats to society. From environmental problems, economic growth, population, etc. innovation has been providing solutions that have allowed progress. Thus, it has taken care of collective problems in a sustainable and efficient way, usually through new technologies. The results of innovation in recent decades have been, despite critical visions, of constant improvement. From the perspective of society, the fundamental results of innovation have been economic growth, increased well-being, social justice, educational accessibility, and environmental sustainability.

Technological innovation is undoubtedly considered a key element of economic growth; understood as the growth of the global economy. The purpose of innovation in this area has been to generate new ideas and technologies that have increased productivity and generated greater production and value with the same inputs.

Likewise, innovation and economic growth have generally increased the well-being of society by increasing living standards. Despite the fact that not all the benefits of innovation and growth are distributed evenly, in some cases generating inequality of income and wealth, an element to which special attention should undoubtedly be paid for the sake of collective well-being.

Of what there is no doubt, is how innovation has affected the reduction of diseases, poverty and hunger at a global level. Although the developed countries have been the most benefited, it is expected that the benefits will be transmitted quickly to the rest of the planet; for example, through improvements in agricultural productivity.

Special attention requires a key element so essential in our future, sustainability and environmental issues, challenges that require a lot of work and innovative solutions. Undoubtedly one of the key axes of development of innovation in the coming years is this. Although consumerism has a positive impact on innovation as a source of economic growth, the increase in consumption is one of the reasons for environmental deterioration. Since politics or other methods have not proven to be enough to stop the damage caused by progress that threatens the long-term survival of our society, the future depends on responsible and sustainable new innovative technologies.

Once the role of innovation has been briefly analyzed from the perspective of society, it is worth making a brief reflection from the closest sphere of the importance of innovation for organizations.

Without a doubt, today it is very difficult to identify industries where innovation is not a key element of their present and, above all, future. Even highly regulated and very stable industries, such as transportation, banks or the energy sector, have not been immune to change in recent years and today no one doubts that their success depends on integrating innovation into their businesses.

The first element is innovation as a generator of competitive advantages over competitors or even as a disruptive element of a sector or business model. In this sense, the second element is continuous innovation, which allows increasing the possibilities of reacting to changes and discovering new opportunities; helping to foster a competitive advantage, as it allows you to create better products and services for your customers.

Increased competitive advantages and continuous innovation often have a direct impact on the performance and profitability of organizations. Therefore, innovation is a dynamic element of the return on investment. Thus, we see how innovative companies not only grow faster, but are more profitable.

As we saw earlier, economic growth is driven by innovation and technological improvements, which reduce production costs and allow for greater production. This is evident both from the Macro vision and from the perspective of the organizations, the different solutions provided by innovation generate productivity and create value, which translates into cost reduction, income increases, and solutions adapted to clients.

Last but not least, innovation also has a positive impact on the culture of companies, since it increases the ability to acquire, create and make better use of the competencies, skills and knowledge of the people who form part of it. part of the organization. Innovation helps build a culture of continuous learning, growth and personal development. This type of innovative environment motivates people to constantly improve the way they and their teams work. As soon as we think about the most successful companies, we see how innovation comes from the creation of environments where ideas flow and develop.

In conclusion, both from a macro and micro perspective, the main objective of innovation is to improve people's lives and when it comes to running a company, innovation is key to making any kind of progress. Although our small innovation activities are not necessarily powerful enough to save the world, they are powerful enough to generate habits that little by little contribute to more focused, efficient and fair societies and companies. Small “improvements” eventually lead to bigger ideas that may one day become revolutionary, so don't stop looking for ways to improve our environment.