Friday, January 03, 2020

Do you drive your Innovation as an Art or Science?


          After my Six Sigma Black Belt and PMP certification, which happened few years ago, I was elated to take on any challenge that the Innovation throws at me. I held the basic premise that Innovation was a scientific discipline and the certifications would suffice.

My perception of Innovation as a Science was developed from the fact that logic and order are fundamental to guiding a process improvement or a project to success. Innovation as seen through the certifications like Six Sigma Black Belt, appear primarily about defining and applying process. However as time passes and as you gain experience with Innovation, it makes you realize you were wrong... You were so very wrong!!!

By defining Innovation as Art... I do not mean to view an inefficient process flow chart, as a thing of beauty. It essentially is and should be treated as a list of facts with an order and relationship between them.

What I mean is… when Innovations go off track or innovative ideas do not come then the creative, improvisational skills of the person really come into play. It’s an essential art to adapt to changing circumstances. The art of bringing the Innovation along with us on the improvement journey essentially helps us to achieve what is needed.

So... Is Innovation an art that you're born with or a science that you can learn? The truth is, it's both…

          Innovation is one area which requires both a creative and technical approach to achieve success. The two aren’t naturally compatible and it often takes someone with an appreciation of the nuances of each to keep the art i.e., creativity going and deliver the science i.e. a good solution.

          The key is donning the right cap to occupy the Innovation facilitator role: to practices both art and science. One without the other is like a car with an accelerator but no brakes. Your Innovation may get to its destination, but you will leave a trail of accidents behind you.

So... Do your drive your Innovation as an Art or Science?

I’m more art inclined than Science now

What are you? Write in comments below and let us know…

Signing off with a quote by John Maeda: “Innovation is born when art meets science”

2 comments:

anjan said...

Good article which triggers our thinking .
Science according to me is discovering the cause to create a better solution.
this is exactly what is propagated by Design Thinking process.
hence i believe basis of science is in itself an Art.

Sanjay Ishwarlal Upadhyay's Blog page said...

So True Anjan :-)