lessons and insights on how to think innovatively on a day-to-day basis and help bring your ideas to life

7 ways to (re)think innovatively

• Who

• Content

Mohammed Alsiddiq@mxmajid mmajid.com eighthub.com

UAE Innovation Week 22-28 November 2015 #UAE_Innovates @UAE_innovates uaeinnovates.ae

in5 Innovation Centre infive.ae @in5centre @dic_community

• Develop a talent for spotting good ideas • Good idea = real market need + unique proposition + creates value • Have the courage to take risks and invest in good ideas • “Innovation is usually not an idea solution; it’s a recognition-solution.” • Innovation is all about change

1

Innovation ≠ “We need more ideas”

• Design thinking is a great strategy for innovation • Obsess about your audience and their context • Research and talk to others about your idea • Test, validate and iterate

2

Design thinking is your friend

http://createdu.org/design-thinking/

• Stay lean, and don't let perfection get in the way of progress • Innovating and creating is typically a messy process • Take risks

3

Perfection is not your friend, breakthroughs are messy

• Spend most of the time thinking about ‘what’ are you solving, rather than ‘how’ • “If I had 20 days to solve a problem I would take 19 to define it.” - Einstein • Innovation is not only technology innovation - 10 types of innovation! • Research will reveal insights that are crucial to find an innovative solution • Innovation is influenced by social factors more than technology

4

Focus on the ‘what’ rather than ‘how’

“The trouble with every one of us is that we don't think enough. We don't get paid for working with our feet — we get paid for working with our heads..” Thomas J. Watson, Chairman and CEO of IBM 1914-1956

• Be curious, challenge and test ideas and conflicting opinions • Practice ‘frame-shifting’ • Tools and techniques such as brainstorming sessions, solving the opposite

problem, 5 whys and sketching and storyboarding • Change your environment and surround your self with creative people • Learning to collaborate, and give and receive feedback, may matter more than

your brilliance • Be persistent and have faith that you will find a solution

5

Rethink the way you think, break down your thinking process

• Barely anything is entirely original • Creativity and innovation is all about making connections between seamlessly

unconnected things • Use what already exists, tweak it and improve on it • Remember innovation is means to an end, not an end in itself • “All ideas are made from other ideas” • Learning from other innovations? Ask the right questions

6

Rethink ‘originality’

• We are wired to have negative bias towards creativity in uncertainty • Most people favor practically over creativity • Ideas are rarely rejected on their merits; they’re rejected because of how they

make people feel.

7

Biased against creativity

Recommended read: Ten Types of Innovation

Thank you@mxmajid malsiddiq@eighthub.comAny questions?