Demystifying Innovation

By Kent Matla | Chairperson - Australian Innovation Management Institute (AIMI)

Innovation is a buzzword that is seemingly everywhere today.  It is woven into the vision and mission statements of organisations, frequently mentioned in government, and countless innovation hubs popping up.  Yet, despite the overuse of the term, innovation remains one of the most critical drivers of economic growth, competitive advantage, sustainable development, and investment activity.

As innovation is a multifaceted concept, there have been several approaches to its definition.  However, they all share some form of newness—whether it is through creativity and discovery, and diffusion or utilisation aspects. At AIMI, we adopt the definition from the Global Innovation Management Institute (GIMI)—creating and capturing new value in new ways.

Contrary to popular belief, innovation is not confined to new technologies, products, or services.  It can span across different areas of the value chain, including business models, partnerships, customer experiences, and markets.  The most successful companies do not just innovate in one area—they innovate across multiple categories, making their impact more powerful. 

Is Innovation a Process or an Outcome?

Innovation is not just an outcome—it is also a process and a mindset.  To unlock breakthroughs, both individuals and teams need to think and act differently. Organisations are constantly seeking breakthrough ideas to drive business growth and prevent disruption.  At the core of innovation is the ability to ask, “What’s next? What else?”

The process of innovation involves a few key elements:

• Diverging: Generating many possible ideas without judgment to expand your range of options.
• Converging: Evaluating and selecting the best ideas from the pool of possibilities.
• Reframing: Changing your perspective on a problem to discover new opportunities.
• Synthesising: Combining different ideas to create something new and valuable.
• Associating: Connecting seemingly unrelated ideas or domains to create something novel.
• Observing: Paying attention to the world around you and noticing problems, opportunities, and trends.

Ultimately, innovation is about connecting the dots (idea fragments) in new ways.  Whoever has “more dots and better dots” and can connect them differently will generate the bigger and bolder ideas.  Always ask, “What’s next? What else?”—and then make it real!

About AIMI

The Australian Innovation Management Institute (AIMI) is a membership-based, non-profit organisation, with the deep purpose of advancing the understanding and development of innovation and innovation management across Australia.

AIMI is part of the Global Innovation Management Institute (GIMI), headquartered in Boston, the world’s largest non-profit standard certification organisation for innovation and innovation management, providing global best practice and ISO accredited capability-building programmes.

For further information about the contents of this article please contact Kent Matla of Australian Innovation Management Institute (AIMI) at kent@trianglepartners.com.au