Borrow Brilliantly, Do Not Innovate Badly
Recent systematic reviews conclude that successful initiatives depend less on novelty and more on research, leadership, stakeholder engagement and effective implementation.
Reading about Sadiq Khan’s transport policies recently reinforced this idea for me. Rather than starting from scratch, many of London’s transport initiatives have adapted proven approaches from other cities, tailoring them to London’s unique scale, governance and environmental challenges. I was relieved to learn this, as I consistently do the same, namely from our mentoring industry greats, Professors David Clutterbuck, Bob Garvey and Jonathan Passmore, as well as, of course, Julie Starr, author of The Mentoring Manual, plus Shrek, who was inspirational for my onion exercise. The topic kicked off reflection on the driving forces behind innovation, starting from scratch despite the associated costs, not to mention the energy it takes and why the first steps to provide solutions rarely begin with scrutinising what already works.
Creating the next shiny new thing is a thing, driven by the need for recognition and reward. Organisations generally want a visible outcome rather than refinement or evolution. Research on this topic uncovered the concept “the adjacent possible”, which suggests that progress usually comes from the next achievable combination of existing ideas rather than giant leaps into the unknown. Innovations often emerge by expanding what’s already feasible instead of inventing from nothing. One very well-known example of this is the smartphone. One device, multiple features, all of which were already in existence.
It could be that the idea of borrowing is too close to copying, and who wants to be a copycat? However, in social situations, despite being annoying, it is a form of flattery. In business, it is the nature of the beast, which is why so much funding goes towards protecting IP. Many small businesses have gone under while paying exorbitant amounts of money on the legal requirements necessary to protect their concepts and products.
What to do? Perhaps apply a practical framework
When evaluating whether to build something new, ask:
Has someone already solved this?
Why does their solution work?
What assumptions no longer hold?
What can be removed?
What can be simplified?
What can be combined with something else?
What feedback do we have?
If most answers point toward adapting an existing approach, borrowing may be the better strategy.
A useful distinction is to separate invention from innovation:
Invention is creating something genuinely new.
Innovation is successfully creating value from an idea, whether the idea itself is entirely novel or an improvement on something that exists.
The most important point of all is understanding the needs of the user or participant. Every audience will have its unique nuances. The transport policies that the mayor ‘borrowed’ from other mainly European cities had to be adapted for London’s sheer scale, governance and pollution.
Sources:
- Steven Johnson – Where Good Ideas Come From
- Mayor’s Transport Strategy – London City Hall & Decision (MD2236)
- Implementation Science (journal)
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