Working Wounded: The Annoying Part of Innovation
Oct. 4, 2006 — -- One of the most important innovations of all time -- the tin can -- was first patented in 1810 by a British merchant named Peter Durand.
What's so important about the tin can? It dramatically extended the reach of the British fleet, providing its sailors access to well-preserved food that allowed them to go on much longer voyages. And that, of course, leads to an important question: What year was the can opener first patented?
The answer is in the next paragraph, but I'm going to stall a bit for dramatic effect. I'd really like for you to guess before you look at the answer. Come on, it'll be fun.
Ezra Warner, an American, got the patent for the can opener -- drum roll please -- in 1858. For almost 50 years, if you wanted to open a can, you had to hit it with a chisel and hammer and spew most of the contents on the wall or floor. Or you could try a hacksaw and get lots of little shards of metal in your food.
Most books and articles on innovation make the process seem logical, structured and orderly -- obstacles come up and they are overcome. The correct decisions are magnified and the mistakes are minimized. So, at least in books, the entire process of innovation is sanitized, homogenized and glorified.
This is dangerous because it can give organizations a false sense of security -- an impression that they can actually "manage" innovation. Nothing could be further from the truth. Like an unruly pet or teenager, innovation is often survived -- not managed.
Take Viagra. It redefined the entire field of male enhancement products when it was first discovered and has generated huge profits. But the drug was discovered almost by accident when a certain side effect started to arise in male patients recovering from heart attacks. It was innovation by accident -- not something any organization could plan.
The other problem with innovation is that we all spend a lot of time studying things that worked in the past. I maintain that we can often learn far more from things that didn't work.
For every Starbucks or Boeing 747, we can learn a valuable lesson or two. But we can learn even more from the New Cokes and the Enrons and the other colossal failures of our time. Unfortunately, most of us tend to be success junkies, and we don't have the patience to sort through the tales of woe from a bunch of losers.
But there is something even more annoying about innovation. Interesting as it is to read about the innovations of others, the most valuable stories about innovation are from within your own organization. That's right. If you really want to understand why innovation is such a struggle, do some digging to find the last few attempts at innovation in your organization.
If your experience is like mine, you'll discover that your organization has its own immune system that seeks out innovation and kills it. Corporate policies, management and profit targets are just three of the villains.
However, if you are grounded in the reality of what and who has been successful in your organization, you'll dramatically increase the odds of success as you embark on your voyage of innovation. It's hoped this knowledge will help provide sustenance for you to maintain a can-do attitude when the journey gets bumpy, as it undoubtedly will.
Quote of the Week
"Some men go through a forest and see no firewood." -- English saying
Book Excerpt of the Week
From "Intrapreneuring in Action" by Pinchot and Pellman (Berrett Koehler, 1999)
"Innovation begins with an idea. How can you be sure the one you have chosen is right? An idea may be a good business opportunity, yet not be good for you. It may hit you and your company perfectly, yet have a fatal technical flaw. It may be new, exciting and patentable, yet not succeed in the market. It may fit the market but not the culture of your organization. There are so many different ways an idea must be right that you have to consider lots of apparently good ideas to find one worth pursuing. 'You have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince.'"
Blog Ballot Results
Here are the results from a recent Working Wounded Blog/ABCNEWS.com online ballot:
How would you rate the jobs you've had in your career?
The best, 21.3 percent
So-so, 66.4 percent
The worst, 12.3 percent
Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, an internationally syndicated columnist, popular speaker, and a recent addition to the community of bloggers. He welcomes your comments at bob@workingwounded.com.
This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.