Recognizing ‘Innovativity’string(38) "Recognizing ‘Innovativity’"
This is the final guest blog in the three-part series featuring Frank DeRaffele’s article, “Creativity vs. ‘Innovativity.'” To read the beginning and the middle of the article, please CLICK HERE for Part 1 and CLICK HERE for Part 2.
“Creativity vs. ‘Innovativity'” by Frank J. DeRaffele Jr. ( . . . Continued)
Recognizing ‘Innovativity’
Innovation in our businesses is extremely important. New ideas help us to run our businesses more efficiently, market more effectively, sell with greater success, satisfy customers at higher levels and lead us to greater overall results–if we have a method to put them in place and the discipline to follow through with them. Innovation gives us competitive advantage in many cases. We just need to make sure we are not being deceived; we need to understand how to recognize the difference between Innovation and its evil twin, Creativity.
Quick steps to recognize ‘Innovativity’ over Creativity in a great new idea:
1. Know what your current problem is and what you want as the end result in solving that problem.
2. Confirm that your new idea will help solve that problem DIRECTLY. Don’t justify that it is a distant cause and effect relationship (e.g., “If I bring in a new target market they will buy more and I will increase my average dollar transaction.” — This simply justifies a non-direct creative idea).
3. It can be executed simply. The best solutions usually are not complex. Many times, the most complex problems have simple solutions. As a Small Business Entrepreneur (SBE), it is rare that you have a complex problem. It may be inconvenient, bad timing, a pain, or unexpected, but rarely so complex that it takes a complex solution. Most very effective innovations are simple solutions.
My last words of advice on this topic: Don’t stop being creative! Always be creative, just know how to use your creativity in the most effective and profitable manner. Make your creativity spark your innovations so you may continue to build a very profitable and sustaining business.
This wraps up the final part of Frank’s article, “Creativity vs. ‘Innovativity'” and I hope you have all found it to be as enjoyable and beneficial as I found it to be. Any comments you leave about the article, I’ll be sure to pass on to Frank so please don’t be shy–tell us what you think!