My tryst with innovation

How often have we heard about management jargon being abused blatantly? I have one here for you. None other than my very own friend, Innovation! Before I dig into this term, I have made 3 conclusions about this term. Pardon me if I'm wrong, but that's what I feel about innovation, having listened to the so called 'innovation evangelists.'

• First, innovation is not a subject to be studied in isolation. Remember the IBM ad? There just cannot be a special room for innovation! It has to happen "on-the-job"


• Second, innovation is better appreciated internally than by customers (Don't get me wrong. Customers just want the best products with all functionalities at the cheapest price. Period)


• Third, the best innovations are either copied from nature, reverse engineered, or just happened by mistake.

The focus of my article, apart from reluctantly fulfilling the objectives of my assignment, is to study an idea found in an HBR article and come out with a product. If this will still interest you, I'm your fan!

In case you have come across this idea elsewhere, please know that I did not know about it, I don't plagiarize, and I will acknowledge the idea and withdraw my blog.

So, here goes - My idea of a product is modelled on nanotechnology. Imagine how wonderful it would be if I was able to send a nanoparticle through my damaged arteries to find out where they were likely to clog! I could also be able to tell the contamination levels in food, even before I touched it or tasted it.

All this can be possible in some years from now, thanks to the fast-paced research that is happening in the field of nanotechnology.

Some uses that I thought of -

Against terrorists - I could blow "smart dust" (which gets the name as it resembles dust particles) in an area, which I suspect, is occupied by terrorists. The sensors in the smart dust would give me the temperature and other conditions, in order for me to deduce that living being exist in that area.

Medical Usage - Sending a nanosensor into a patient's body, which can stay in there and provide real-time, online information about the patient's health. The particle can even alert physicians and care takers about any adverse change in body conditions

Environment - Can help scientists and environmentalists access data in conditions that cannot be survived by humans. Animal patterns can be studied to track and protect wild life, and endangered species

The above are some of the uses of nanotechnology that sprang to my mind, as I sat down to 'pen' my thoughts on innovation. In the coming days, I would be shedding more light on the limitless possibilities of nanotechnology.

For now, its suffice to say that the coming world will see a lot more application of this technology, and a whole new set of products and services might come into existence mimicking the Internet revolution