Innovation, the big topic out there (together with AI, big data, and sustainability) was the subject of a panel discussion that I listened to at Women in Tech this year. From that I come home with 4 interesting thoughts:

Kill your ideas young!

Innovation is mostly about evolution, not revolution. The most innovative thing you can do is to test a lot of ideas and kill them young. Do not think about innovation as the next big revolutionary idea, because it never is. The secret is really to make sure to test your hypothesis as fast as possible. In the volume of tests, you'll find your innovation.

Innovation is about doing what you do in another way.

Innovating is not about coming up or applying the coolest new technology in town but it is about finding the business and customer value (and maybe solve it with a cool tech)

Don’t wait for a process, just do it!

It is very few organization in the world that has a 100% focus on innovation, but if you think that you need such a focus to innovate, you are wrong. On an individual level, if you have an idea, pitch it to your manager, show the user value, and in most cases, you’ll get to try it out.

The most common way of innovating is acquiring.

If you are stuck with the thought that you have to build everything by yourself, you are not so innovative.

I think we can all challenge ourselves every day in all those points, innovation is a state of mind 🙂