Nurture New Ideas Link
Think of your typical cup holder from a fast food restaurant or coffee house made of cardboard. They are rigid with no handle and have been cause of drink spills and panic attacks for years. Recently a new cup holder has come about that is more mobile and has a handle (see image above). These changes have made it easier to transport drinks and prevent spills. This idea in itself is only an improvement on what was there previously.
To truly be innovative, you should take opposing thoughts and combine them, which increases the innovative potential of your idea (see image below). Think of the invention of the Burqini that combines the idea of a burqa that Muslim women wear and the flexibility of a swimsuit at the beach. Innovative ideas can sometimes be explosive but many potential barriers will arise and just having an innovative idea is not always enough.
Innovative Idea Diagram
Groundbreaking and innovative ideas come from combining ideas from different industries, cultures, fields, and disciplines.
In order to take an innovative idea from the embryo of a concept to market, you need to have the determination to push through failure. The odds are against you no matter the idea and statistics say you are going to fail a few times on your road to success. Knowing this, you have to hedge your bets more effectively so you can adjust your path and continue forward.
Don’t be intimidated by the perceived brilliance of innovative designs, because you are typically seeing the last iteration that has changed compared to its original concept. This happens with adjustment through failure. As Johansson mentioned, Picasso had made around 20,000 (as high as 50,000) works of art in his lifetime and Einstein published 240 papers with a short number of successful creations. Innovative success happens in volume (see image below).