Innovation Facts

Innovation Fact 14 – Waste is money

Striving for a circular economy is currently a major trend. So what to do with generated waste streams? Whether you run a chemical plant, a restaurant, or another business, waste is often overlooked. What is of no use for you can still be valuable to someone else. A cost might become a revenue. Waste is money.

Waste is money

While the idea of your waste being a resource for someone else has been around for years now, it is not always an easy concept to achieve. At its core, waste management remains a story of cost versus profit. Not so long ago, we didn’t deeply question industrial waste flowing into our rivers. There were no clear ecological frameworks and it was much cheaper to dump waste than it was to repurpose it.

Only later, the real cost of pollution became clear. Environmental guidelines and associated costs forced companies to process these by-products themselves, giving them an incentive to audit their waste stream. It can pay off to put some effort into identifying partners who are keen to take your waste and use it as a source material for their product.

Culture changes over time. Today’s society has a different morality than it had in the past. This will not be different for our society in the future. Things that we now find normal will completely disappear, or will at least be frowned upon.

Are we still going to be stuck in the exhaust fumes from miles of traffic jams on the way to work? Will we look back in amazement at the time when we transported ourselves by burning scarce and polluting fossil fuels?

Circular economy

Of course the ultimate goal is to go fully circular. Therefore you need to consider the end-of-life of your product while designing it. The so called cradle-to-cradle principle. Applying this methodology is not only better for the environment, it often is also the more profitable option. If applied well, your product will still be quite valuable at the end of its lifecycle. So companies actually want their old cradle-to-cradle designed products back because they contain valuable materials which they can re-introduce in a new product version.

For this principle to become the standard approach we still need some changes in our legislations and supply chain hierarchy. But maybe we can start by simply asking: What value has my waste and for who?

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Other Innovation Facts

Innovation Fact 1 – Existing solutions never last

Functions remain, solutions change. When addressing perceived needs in the market, go beyond solutions and try to clarify the main functionality you are trying to provide.

Innovation Fact 2 – Find the real problem

There are many reasons why products fail, but one of the most important ones is that solutions do not always solve the real problem.

Innovation Fact 3 – Focus on one thing

Focus on one thing and do it better than anyone else. Once you found clarity on your core values, focus on developing your product or service to optimally achieve these values. Do not let yourself be carried away by what you see around you.

Innovation Fact 4 – Learn to steal

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Focus on the function you are trying to solve, look around you and find inspiration to build upon. Then make it your own, optimize it and share it with the world.

Innovation Fact 4b – Beware of the “not invented here” syndrome

We tend to criticize and discard ideas that did not originate from us, consciously or unconsciously. Beware of this and always look at ideas and concepts around you with an open mind and judge them by their value, not by their origin.

Innovation Fact 5 – Don’t judge an idea too soon

Many technologies or products have been met with skepticism and laughter when they were launched. When you feel the urge to ridicule new products, try to have the reflex to objectively analyze that innovation.

Innovation Fact 6 – Embrace happy accidents

Breakthroughs often rely on the open-mindedness of innovators to notice something new, unexpected, and intriguing. Extensive cross-industry-research can inspire us to establish new links between previously separate components. No happy accidents per se, but a good way to break through the limitations of your current research and spot some surprising correlations.

Innovation Fact 7 – Keep it simple

Keeping things simple has many advantages. Look at your products or services and ask yourself: “Does it really need to be this complex?” Can I make it easier for users, without losing essential elements”?

Innovation Fact 8 – Too busy to innovate

Planning is essential for innovation – the pull of the ‘urgent, not important’ of routine tasks is just too strong. It’s time to take action and re-tune, plan more time for the important long-term projects, because these are the ones that will help your company to remain relevant.

Innovation Fact 9 – Learn to listen

By responding to the real needs and interests of your target groups, you learn how you can innovate. Never assume you know all there is to know about your product. Learn to listen and reap the benefits of the gathered insights.

Innovation Fact 10 – Sell an old idea to someone new

Developing new solutions can be expensive, complex and risky. So why not identify new applications and markets for your existing knowledge and solutions? This lowers the risk and leads to new successes faster and cheaper.

Innovation Fact 11 – You are never too big to fail

Innovation is often seen as risky, but it doesn’t have to be a fuzzy process of trial and error. By applying a proven method and understanding your industry and market, you can make informed decisions, removing the risk from innovation.

Innovation Fact 12 – Know when to innovate

Getting the timing of innovation right is fundamental to maximizing the returns. Bad timing can lead to disaster, whether you get to market too early or too late. These are the items to consider.

Innovation Fact 13 – Learn from the best: biomimicry

Biomimicry or learning from nature will only gain importance in the future. Before companies make any design decisions, they should ask: “How would nature solve this problem?”.

Innovation Fact 15 – Society changes, so should your company

Nothing is permanent except change. Pick up these societal changes as fast as possible and think about how they impact your business. And dare to disrupt your own business.

Innovation Fact 16 – Robots will take your job

Do you fear that robots will take your job? A lot of jobs wil likely disappear, but it is up to us to arm ourselves against a future of uselessness. Learn to hit the ground running.

Innovation Fact 17 – It’s not because you can that you should

Stubbornly developing a product nobody wants will lead to disaster. So, think critically about your idea, discuss it with others any way and any time you can. Challenge your idea and adapt to new insights and understandings.

Building on two decades of experience with over 1,250 projects in a wide range of industries. Creax is a trustworthy innovation partner.

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