Many companies across multiple industries claim to be global leaders in innovation. In Fast Company’s 2015 list of ‘Most Innovative Companies', there were brands included such as Apple, Warby Parker, Instagram, Alibaba, HBO amongst others. Why such a diverse list & why do businesses position themselves around this idea of innovation.
Being first is a huge competitive advantage. Simply put, constantly re-inventing your product to be cutting edge can put you first in the race. If you get it right, you literally could change the world. Steve Jobs was famous for never doing any consumer research because ‘people don’t know what they want until you show them’. The purest expression of innovation I’ve heard.
Another reason is that it’s exciting for your employees. No year is ever the same; you live in a constant churn of newness & challenges, that need solving for, which by definition is the opposite of stale or boring.
Why do some industries focus on innovation more than others? Look at Technology companies, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Uber, Samsung are all looking for the next product to stay ahead & wow consumers. Innovation is built in to the culture of the entire industry. In sport; Nike, Adidas, Under Armour, all constantly looking for the latest innovation in athletic footwear and apparel to make athletes run faster, jump higher, perform longer. The Airline ‘Indigo’ created step-less ramps to speed up the time it takes to board & took learning’s from Formula 1 to create a pit-stop style turn around between flights. Tesla & Gogoro are two leading examples who dared to think differently about the motor industry by creating electrically powered vehicles. What do these companies have in common? The consumer is central to the success of their business & as a result, these markets become fiercely competitive, the expectations get astronomically higher, customers will simply go elsewhere.
The truth is, when you look at the companies listed above innovation matters in business in 2016. Innovation can manifest itself in many ways, it could be the speed and volume at which you make a product, it could be the product itself, or it could be revolutionizing a process to make things cheaper to make. That list is endless. Whichever way you look at it, there is clear value for all companies to explore what innovation means for them.
That is if they want to get out front & stay there.