Understanding Innovation: From Invention to Impact

Inventors vs Innovators

• Inventors are often deeply absorbed in the technical features and elegance of their creations.
• Innovators, on the other hand, focus on value — the benefits delivered to customers, investors, and stakeholders.
• Invention is about creating something new; innovation is about making it useful and profitable.

The Role of Innovation in Human Progress

• Innovation has continuously punctuated and transformed human history.
• Consider:
• Each of these started as a breakthrough and became a new normal, laying the groundwork for future innovations.

"Every innovation becomes a new normal, and others build on it."

Innovation in the Nigerian Context

• Nigeria’s challenges — in leadership, infrastructure, security, and human capital development — present opportunities for innovation.
• Where there is a problem, there is room for transformation.
• Watch The Men Who Built America for inspiration — a story of individuals who dared to believe that things could be different.

The Innovator’s Mindset

• Innovation is believing in a better future and then developing it.
• INNOVATION = CREATIVITY + COMMERCIALIZATION
• Innovation is not complete until someone is willing to pay for the solution. That’s the litmus test.

The Process of Innovation

1. Discovery/Invention
2. Development
3. Commercialization (Profitable Use)

Radical Innovation: The Game Changer

Radical innovations are:

• Breakthroughs with 5–10x improvement in performance
• Lead to >30% cost reduction or provide an entirely new capability
• Disruptive to existing technologies, business models, and sometimes entire societies
• Tackle problems not solvable by incremental innovation (Leifer, 2000)

Examples:

• Sun Microsystems Workstations disrupted mainframe computers
• Personal Computers (PCs) disrupted workstations
• Xerox Plain Paper Copier disrupted offset printing
• Canon’s Desktop Copiers disrupted Xerox’s high-speed market
• Wireless Telephony (GSM, CDMA) disrupted wireline telephony — made landlines nearly obsolete

"Innovation is reinvent, innovate, or die. Yesterday’s innovation does not guarantee tomorrow’s relevance."

Why Innovation Matters

• No one wants to be tied to a wire just to make a phone call anymore.
• Metrics evolve: from numbers of landlines to mobile penetration and data access.
• Innovation shifts paradigms.