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The Definition of Innovation
Today, innovation is less of a choice, and more of an imperative. However, innovation has become a buzzword, and is often used without a sound understanding of this important phenomenon. At MIT, innovation takes place every day, but researchers also try to understand how and why it happens. Innovation is seen as a process whereby ideas are taken from inception to impact. This broad conception of innovation allows researchers and practitioners to go beyond mere technology and work towards innovations that benefit society in many different ways.
Find out more about MIT’s definition of innovation from the Faculty Directors in the MIT Sloan School of Management Corporate Innovation: Strategies for Leveraging Ecosystems online short course.
Transcript
Innovation is a buzzword, but it’s still an important phenomenon well worth understanding. Here at MIT, we do innovation on a daily basis, but we also study it and try to understand how and why it happens, both here and in many other parts of the world.
So, Phil, I wonder if you can share with us the MIT definition of innovation.
Certainly, and I’m happy to do so. And it’s a very broad term to explain this really important phenomenon of innovation. So basically, it is the process of taking ideas from inception to impact. It sounds simple, but there’s quite a lot to it. So perhaps I should unpack it a little bit. Why don’t I start at the end with the word “impact”? And one of the things I really like about this MIT definition of innovation is it’s about impact, without specifying that this has to be a for-profit motive or a particular outcome. It leaves it much more open as to what the innovation is delivering. And certainly, here at MIT, we see a lot of people working on innovative ideas. Not all of which are about profits, some are about other forms of impact, whether it’s social impact, environmental impact, culture, or others. There’s a variety of different forms. So, I think, the keyword at the end is about it having impact.
I’m really surprised that you don’t have the word “technology” as part of your definition of innovation. Can you help us understand that?
People often confuse technology and innovation. And technology can often spur innovation, and particularly digital technologies can enable a lot of innovation, but innovation itself is much broader. It could be an innovation in a business model or a particular process of an organization. There’s a variety of different ways of bringing innovation and innovativeness to bear on particular projects. The other thing I’d like to pick up on is process.
The MIT definition is very helpful. It talks about innovation being a process. So, it’s not a singular moment. It’s not the discovery of the particular technology or the invention that’s going on there. It’s a real process. And that implies that there’s more than just one person, the inventor of something. There’s a whole range of players who are important to the innovation process.
So, should we think about this as a process where many different actors or stakeholders can take part?
Definitely. And stakeholders is the keyword. There’s a variety of different players involved in innovation. We see them in the great innovation ecosystems around the world. And I think it’s important for people to have a sense of where they are in this, what they contribute. They may not almost feel like they are the most innovative or entrepreneurial, but there’s a role for the different stakeholders to play in this process of innovation – taking ideas from inception to impact.