This seems to be a week of discussions on innovation. Maybe it is just on my mind so I am getting involved in more conversations. But it all came to a head when in a discussion with a chef friend of mine last night over a great meal (thanks Mark – sorry about the foot).
I had been reading another great Post by Claudia Imhoff (man she is articulate) before I went to Mark’s house and at one point I joined into a conversation that someone said "there is nothing new". It was a great conversation. Of course I was on the side of innovation, but what is it about innovation or the word that knocks people sideways. These folks agreed with Claudia’s observation that the old is new again with Movie makers doing re-makes, the auto industry bringing old models back and so on. The one thing we all agreed in our conversation today was that this would not happen if the user didn’t want it. Another observation I had was that not everything needs to be a re-invention or earth shaking change. Sometimes Darwinian evolution jumps sometimes it slowly mutates.
In a conversation over on MIP’s scan we have been talking about it, so come on over and take a look. Join the conversation and add your thoughts.
I like the idea of hollywood making remakes and old style autos coming back into fashion. Sometimes when you’re innovating in a particular situation the “thinking out of the box” can definitely mean “moving back to an old box”. I like that because when trying to innovate a solution, there’s no harm in basically bringing together old elements. The innovation comes in how you solve the problem, not necessarily creating something new.
Good post.