Drucker outlines innovation in "7 Sources of Innovation":
- The Unexpected
- Incongruities
- Process Needs
- Industry and Market Structure
- Demographics
- Changes in Perception
- New Knowledge
- Innovation is all about thinking forward, thinking about what people want/need before they do, this is "The Unexpected" aspect of the source list. An example of this is Google Drive (formerly Google Docs), Google identified that people like collaborating, but previous there were not any robust web-apps for working collaboratively.
- Thinking about things that seem to contradict seems to amaze people and can revolutionize an idea, this explains Drucker's "Incongruities". An example of this is the "Nano" car and how Tata Motors wanted to create a small yet spacious car to fit a four person family in.
- Figuring out what product people need that otherwise doesn't exist and really make a product profitable and really take off. This is what is referred to as "Process Needs". An example of this is the iPhone, how it revolutionized phones (into Smartphones), and how the iPhone revolutionized "apps", because the majority of people use "apps" in their everyday life.
- Shifting around how a company or business operates and how it is structured is another key aspect; it helps to always keep the company following to up-to-date with current products and practices. On the source this this is known as "Industry and Market Structure". This is best demonstrated when a new person comes into a company and restructures the business in a way they feel is most effective, to create positive change in the company's day-to-day operations.
- Demographics are an important part of innovation, because it allows product to reach a certain group of people that might not have been previously targeted. 15 years ago, no one thought that teens and children would be a huge consumer of electronics, ie. iPods, tablets, etc)
- To be different, you need to think different. "Changing Perception" and having a fresh out-look, allows for a lot of growth and naturally, innovation will follow. By changing advertising methods to digital ones, companies are more easily able to attract younger and wide audience way more efficiently than anything previously.
- New Knowledge is the key to staying in business. After knowing what is, and what isn't working, an more successful product or business is able to emerge. An example is Apple, and their "ear-pods". Apple recently introduced their new earbud design; advertising that they looked at hundreds of different ears, in order to maximize audio effectiveness. This was a step forward due to the poor quality of their previous earbuds.
These are just a few thoughts and my interpretations of Drucker's "7 Steps of Innovation". Let me know what you think and what your opinion is. For reference I looked at the following website for the list of steps: http://www.innovationmanagement.org/Wiki/index.php?title=7_Sources_of_Innovation_(Peter_Drucker)
