Sometimes good advice is all that is needed to nudge you in the right direction. Especially when you plan on venturing into something new. The innovation process is full of risk and uncertainty, so helpful tips from more experienced people can come in quite handy. Always bear in mind that every innovation process is a unique process and that there is no recipe for certain success, but you can always learn from the mistakes and victories of others. These inspirational quotes about innovations and innovating can help you fuel the fire of innovation culture in your business.

“There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.”

–Brene Brown

It doesn’t matter if you are starting on your first innovation or you are a seasoned innovator, get ready for failure, perhaps lots of it. Sometimes you might get lucky and hit the jackpot with the very first attempt, but that’s often not the case. Successful innovations don’t happen overnight. They take a lot of time, effort and money and usually don’t go as planned. Failure is part of the innovation process, so you should get used to it and embrace it. Rather than giving up, learn from your failures, as well as failures of others, and don’t get discouraged. Failures are valuable lessons and experiences for your future innovations.

“Exploration is the engine that drives innovation. Innovation drives economic growth.”

–Edith Widder

A true innovator is an explorer at heart. Never be afraid to explore, try out different things, mix and match. The end result might surprise you and bring your business a great success. What distinguishes an innovator from everyone else, is their daredevil attitude combined with childlike playfulness. Exploration will bring you new ideas, solutions and a whole new perspective. It will only enrich your innovation process, influence your business’s growth and, in the bigger picture, drive economic growth.

“Vision is the art of seeing the invisible.”

–Jonathan Swift

Innovating is not a one-man job. It usually takes a whole team of diverse people to bring an idea to life. Gathering a team is one thing, but being able to communicate with your team members what you have envisioned is another thing. Your vision is the starting point and guidance for your team, as well as the glue that holds everyone together. Having a unique vision creates a sense of purpose and can be a great motivator as well!

“When the winds of change blow, some people build walls and others build windmills.”

–Chinese proverb

The current pandemic situation has made us rethink everything. Many businesses have closed, and those able to adapt and seize the opportunity have not only survived but gained a tremendous advantage. Innovations help your business overcome many obstacles and threats it may be facing and can be the only key to survival. So, instead of hiding, harness the energy the wind brings you!

“Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable.”

–William Pollard

The world is a dynamic place, where change is constant and inevitable. The answer to change is innovation. In order to gain an advantage, be the one that challenges and changes the status quo. Instead of waiting for change to happen and then reacting, be the one that initiates it. But be aware, a successful innovation attracts new players who want a piece of the market, which will force you to further innovate if you want to stay in the game. It’s an endless endeavor, so get ready for a marathon of innovating.

“If you look at history, innovation doesn’t come just from giving people incentives; it comes from creating environments where their ideas can connect.”

–Steven Johnson

It is not enough to support your team members’ ideas. You must create and nourish innovation culture in your business which will be the backbone of your innovations and your success, a culture where collaboration is essential for ideas to flourish and where diversity and inclusion are widely accepted. Only in such an environment will you have the opportunity to capitalize on your innovations in the long run, and establish yourself as a truly innovative business.

“When all think alike, then no one is thinking.” 

–Walter Lippmann

We’ve already discussed the importance of a diverse workforce for the innovation process. People with different backgrounds have different approaches to the same problem. Their different perspectives only enrich the innovations process. As a business with a diverse workforce, not only are you more likely to be more innovative but, in the eyes of job seekers and other stakeholders, your business appears to be more attractive. It is important to support different ideas and opinions and come to the best solution through collaboration.

“Innovation starts by intimately observing your customer.”  

–Jeremy Gutsche

Sometimes key partners in the innovation process are your customers. They will tell you exactly which aspects of your innovation they value the most, what are some of their unmet needs, share cool ideas, and provide you with valuable feedback. Since they are the end-users and your target, it is important to listen to them and make improvements and adjustments on your innovation to fit their needs as best as possible. Collaboration with your customers also creates a strong, loyal, long-term relationship. Not only will they get what they want and need, but this will also translate into success and profit for you.

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

–Albert Einstein

Sometimes you need to let your imagination loose in order to make big leaps forward. What seems impossible and unimaginable at the moment can pretty soon be the new standard. Don’t get discouraged if your idea seems too far fetched because all radical innovation started with a simple idea and courage to do the impossible.

“Innovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way.”

–Tom Freston

Innovations come in all shapes and sizes. You can create something from scratch, or try mixing and matching. You never know until you’ve tried it, and as we’ve already discussed, don’t be afraid of failure. Putting together two things that initially don’t go together can result in surprising innovations.

“If I had asked customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.”

–Henry Ford

Customers are an important part of every innovation process. They decide if the innovation is going to be successful or not. You can include your key customers at any stage of your innovation process. Through crowdsourcing, businesses are able to connect with their customers and collect valuable feedback and ideas, which can be crucial for successful innovation. But sometimes, even the customers themselves aren’t aware of their specific needs, or just don’t know how to articulate them. Radical innovations call for radical leaps forward, beyond current trends, and are responsible for introducing innovations that once seemed impossible and too far fetched.

“Innovation requires an experimental mindset.”

–Denise Morrison

Innovations require more than just a good idea. Most often the initial idea is entirely different from the end product. It might have kept some of the main elements, but it has undergone many iterations. Through experimentation, you will be able to test your hypothesis and improve the initial idea. Experiments don’t necessarily need to be elaborate, you can start simple, by testing the key characteristics of your idea. These simple experiments will provide you with fast feedback and a clear indication if you are on the right track. This also means more agility to react and improve your innovation in all of its stages, and it also lowers the risk of failure when you launch your innovation.

An experimental mindset is important for an innovator because it gives him the audacity and courage to try out different things that nobody thought of or combine things that appear to be complete opposites. And sometimes great innovations are created thanks to this mixing and matching of rather incompatible things. So get ready for lots of experimentation, and you might come up with the next best thing!

Sometimes all you need is a word of wisdom. Innovations don’t just happen, they take up a lot of time, effort, money, and sometimes nerves, so it’s not a bad idea to pause for a second, take a step back, reset, and come fresh, focused and with a different perspective. Sometimes the most obvious solutions are in front of us, but we don’t notice them because we are overwhelmed with everything happening around us. This was just a short reminder of some of the important aspects of every innovation process through the words of wise people and great innovators.