One of the main focus areas of the 27th Rotaract District Conference was innovation. So, here’s a toolkit for innovation from us to you.
Have a “why?”
Always have a reason for innovation. No matter how innovative your product or your idea is people are only going to buy it if there is a reason why the product or the idea exist. For an example, Apple, through its iPhones wanted to challenge the status-quo so the people who wanted to challenge status-quo bought the product. No marketing can sell your innovation if it’s not based on a “why?”.
A mantra to remember
No one wants to know what you are planning to be. Simply, no one cares about your mission statement. What people want to know is simply what you are doing and not a step by step elaboration. And NO, it’s not about having an attractive slogan but having a slogan which explains what you do. For an example, if Martin Luther King Jr. just said “I have a plan” would anyone be interested in listening to him?
Delusion is good
Don’t just try to build on or improve what you have. Always try to think how you would take anything to the next level. One would say your delusional, but your delusion, when someday brought to reality, is what’s going put you above others. Keep in mind that once Western Union rejected telephone in 1876 stating that “This telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication,”
The DICEE features
Your innovation should have the following characteristics.
- Deep – It should have a lot of features and functionality.
- Intelligent – People should feel that this product was made with an understanding about their problems.
- Complete – Every aspect of the product should be proper. i.e. a good product with bad marketing and an inconvenient user manual is not going to be good enough.
- Empowering – Innovations should improve creativity and productivity.
- Elegant – Care about the user interface.
Be crappy
No innovation had been perfect. Every good thing at some point had some shortcoming. Imagine, if all the great innovators stopped innovating simply because they felt that their first innovation was crappy, how primitive would our world be. Remember, innovative ideas are like a wind, it blows past you. So, either you catch it, act on it and improve it or let it blow past you to meet someone else who would act on it.
Explore
Your product is what the consumer thinks it is. You can have your own “why” but if the consumer’s “why” for your product is something else, address it. A great example is the smart phone. They were initially brought into the market to act as a computer in your pocket, but today one of the most important uses of a smart phone is to capture your memories and the manufacturers address this “why”.
Not everyone’s cup of tea.
An innovative product would have lovers and haters, change seekers, loving the product and the rest hating it, and it is alright.
Listen and grow
It is okay to be in denial of others ideas until you innovate. But, once you have innovated, you need to listen to your users and make changes, if you fail to do so, you will fail. One great example for this is what happened to Nokia.
Create a niche
An innovation is something which can satisfy the user in ways nothing else can do. Look into areas where no one else looks into. Your market might be small, but it sure is strong.
Pitch perfect
Pitch your product or idea or simply yourself in an attractive manner. Customize your introduction and make it relatable to your audience. Keep it short enough to excite the audience but long enough to cover all you have to say.
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Rtr. Promodhya Abeysekara Co – Editor 2017/18 |
