When a tech company (or car company, which today are tech companies) say INNOVATIVE what they mean is "WELL DESIGNED."
I'm not trying to down play innovation as much as point out that it does the concept a disservice to use innovative when you really mean "well done." The big tech secret is that most of tech is shit. So coming back with a version 2 or 3 or 4 that is well done should not be considered as innovating.
What does innovation mean? It means taking something old and changing it with a new method, new direction, or process - incrementally. Incremental is important because if the thing is truly different, that's invention, not innovation. So in the purest sense taking a shit implementation and "fixing it" could be considered innovation.
If you listen to tech leaders when they talk about innovation they really mean invention or discovery but they misuse the term because it's trendy. That's why my friend Eric Chen posted a joke business card for startups that said, "My startup is called ____. It's just like ______ except that it _______."
So someone might say, "My startup is called Jitter. It's just like Twitter except that it targets coffee drinkers."
Innovation should be status quo. By all means, go forth and "incrementally improve" (innovate). We need a shit ton of improvements in tech. But if you want to lead, you're going to have to discover and invent - not innovate. Innovation is for the masses. Discovery and invention is still the stuff of genius, accidents, and good fortune.
No comments:
Post a Comment