How Often Do Innovations Prove to Be Successful

“Innovation.” The corporate world makes extensive use of this word. I’ve seen a lot of individuals support the idea, pushing for company executives to innovate and even disrupt, and occasionally portraying innovation as the key to unlocking new business opportunities. It may seem like you’re doing something incorrectly if you’re not innovating.

Is innovation, however, always the solution? I’ve been thinking about that question a lot lately.

Innovation’s benefits

To put it plainly, innovation is essential to our survival and prosperity. Among the numerous important inventions that benefit people are current disaster warning systems, electricity, and antibiotics. We now enjoy and benefit from a number of goods and services that were made possible by innovation, including air travel, microwaves, and cellphones.

Innovation can mean the difference between a company’s survival and demise. It could mean the difference between being remembered and becoming a household name. It can mean the difference between influencing the future and letting rivals dictate it.

Living in a world devoid of invention would be difficult. Furthermore, I don’t think there could be a world without invention. I believe that the desire to innovate is innate to human nature. We have been doing this for ages, after all.

The Drawbacks of Innovation

But there are drawbacks to innovation. Innovation (or the urge to innovate or be perceived as innovative) has four major drawbacks, in my opinion.

First of all, being innovative does not always imply that you are finding solutions to issues. Take the Juicero, a high tech juicer that was discontinued shortly after “it was discovered that one could simply squeeze its juice cartridge refills by hand and bypass the $400 machine.” Juicero wasn’t, in my opinion, resolving an actual issue.

Additionally, innovation may lead to new issues. A software provider might, for instance, introduce new features aimed at further streamlining procedures. But in the end, those features could make things more complicated for clients, making it harder for them to finish their tasks.

Fraud can also be facilitated by innovation. Regretfully, some leaders may sacrifice their ethics in the process of innovating, or in an attempt to look innovative.

The Dark Side of Innovation in Business

One well known example of invention gone wrong is Theranos. “Gave inaccurate and inconsistent results, and Theranos began to rely on third-party equipment to process blood, sending samples back to the clinics while giving the impression the results came from the Theranos machine,” the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business website stated.

Two further examples of deception prompted from a wish to be innovative. The emissions controversy involving Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate” and Nikola Corporation’s founder’s “exaggerated claims about his company’s progress in producing zero emission 18 wheel trucks fueled by electricity or hydrogen.”

Additionally, innovation might have a negative Psychological impact on people. It can be emotionally draining to be under continual pressure to think of new ideas. “Innovation may not put you at risk of sudden death, but it is anxiety inducing nonetheless,” stated McKinsey. It is more unpredictable than any other business endeavor, necessitating audacious wagers in the face of hazy results and a determination to endure losses, criticism, and self-doubt.

Finding Balance: Innovation with Purpose

Instead of stopping innovation, the solution should be to slow it down and ground it in small, measurable adjustments.

I believe that an innovative company culture may undervalue the significance of developing real relationships and adhering to moral and ethical principles.

However, those concerns do not, in my opinion, imply that the solution is to completely give up on innovation. Without innovation, the world could not function. We couldn’t improve our lives without innovation. We were now stuck.

Is innovation, however, always the solution? I would say “No” in response to the question.

As company executives, I think we should slow down and quit attempting to innovate so much. We shouldn’t feel compelled to destroy everything at every opportunity. Sometimes we can just accept things the way they are. Additionally, rather than relying solely on excitement, we should base our decisions to innovate on small, measurable changes. Innovation need not entail a complete overhaul of the status quo or a ground breaking new concept. It may entail taking things one step at a time and trying to make improvements as much as possible.

Summary