The Challenge of Innovation

We start the episode by discussing what innovation means. Is it a combination of lots of ideas or the invention of something new? It seems that, historically, some of the greatest inventions were nothing but a combination of different ideas – from the Wright brothers’ aircraft to Steve Jobs’ iPhone. In that sense, crowdsourcing and sharing ideas with others is key to innovation.  

Furthermore, we debate the concept of ‘real-time design’. Things are moving fast, and the onus is now on the design process. Companies in the design and manufacturing industry need to be able to rapidly prototype products at the idea stage rather than at the manufacturing stage. And engagement with customers is crucial to innovation at this point. 

We conclude the episode with a call to action for leaders in the design and manufacturing business to be open to innovation despite its risks, making sure to be able to fail in a cost-effective way. Innovation can be scary. It has the power to tear open unexpected spaces in an organization. Iteration tends to feel safer than change. But missing on change is a luxury businesses don’t have. And if businesses are not prepared to nurture and foster that, they might be left behind.