The best innovations are the ones you don't know you want!

Innovation or Science Fiction?

The best innovations are the ones you don't know you want! OK ... that's not entirely true. We often imagine amazing technologies and innovations that are often closer to science fiction than real innovations.

But what I mean to say is that the best and most revolutionary innovations are things that consumers don't realize that they want, at least not yet. In today's world, everyone is talking about innovation. It seems that every company out there has innovation as part of its vision. So we are bombarded with new 'innovations' every day. And yet, this stream of innovative products and services is often underwhelming, and often represents incremental improvements over existing products and services. These can be really nice and cool ideas, but they often don't have a huge impact, and consequently they rarely result in large financial returns.

Examples of Revolutionary Innovation

Revolutionary innovations, on the other hand, are often not even on people's radar at the time that they are introduced. Consumers may even dismiss such ideas when they first hear about them, since they can't imagine the scale of the innovation or the impact it will have. However, such revolutionary innovations can quickly grow to capture huge markets, destroying legacy companies in those markets along the way, and make a huge impact on the world.

There are many examples of this. Apple has been a great generator of such products over the years, including the introduction of the first graphical user interface personal computers in the 1980's, the iPod digital music player and iTunes for digital music downloads, the iPhone and iPad. Most people in the 1980's had no idea what they could use a computer for, much less express any demand for a graphical easy-to-use interface for computers. Before the iPod and iTunes, few people imagined that they could download music and store their entire library on a tiny device that they could easily carry in their pocket.

Before the iPhone, few people recognized what they could do with a "smart" phone, beyond making phone calls of course. At the time, leading mobile phone companies such as Blackberry, Nokia, and Motorola dismissed the full touchscreen design of the iPhone as a fad, much to their regret. They likely held customer panels and interviews in making that decision. The consumers they consulted, stuck in the mindset of their time, could not imagine the possibilities of what the iPhone could accomplish.

The same can be said of the iPad, which introduced a powerful computing device in a highly mobile and lightweight form factor. As a completely new market segment, tablet computing did not grow explosively like smartphones, but it still created a new market where Chromebooks and Microsoft Surface devices also compete.

But Apple is not the only example. Before Google was launched, did anyone imagine how revolutionary Google's corporate mission “to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful” would be? Google's search technology went on to completely change the world and how people study, work and play. Who would have imagined that Google could make such an incredible impact on the world while offering access to this technology completely free of charge, and driven by text ads, completely revolutionizing the advertising industry as well.

Other contemporary examples include Amazon, Uber, and Netflix, each with its own unique story of disruptive innovation. But what lesson can we learn from all of these stories? As I alluded to in the title, the moral of the story is that the most revolutionary innovations are those that are unexpected, completely unimaginable to the average person of their time, and for which there may be no demand prior to their release.

Innovation Lessons for Startups and Investors

Many entrepreneurs and startup founders are taught to go out and measure demand for their product, or an MVP version of it, and iterate until they find something that works. This is the basis of the lean startup methodology, summed up in a sentence. It's great advice and a good methodology to follow to ensure your startup is building a product that is relevant, that solves a customer pain point, and that will have a viable market.

However, the most innovative products will be those that define new product categories, new markets, and new business models. Such ideas are likely to be initially rejected, or at least not understood. It takes a visionary and very persistent leader to push such ideas through and make them happen, to deliver them to the world and to sell them to people. The most successful entrepreneurs are those that recognize when such innovative ideas happen, and take risks on them to bring them to life despite initial market skepticism. Not all such seemingly revolutionary ideas will succeed, no doubt. History is littered with products that were once hailed as great innovations, but that never really caught on. Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), such as those developed by Palm, are one such example. But those that succeed, are destined to change the world.

For investors, a similar lesson can be learned. You can invest in ideas and technologies that are seemingly the great next step for any given market, and you may achieve solid returns doing so. Perhaps a new battery technology that charges faster or holds more energy, or a faster processor to power the next generation of mobile devices, or a great new app that connects a new audience to a service or product they need on demand. However, the greatest returns will be reserved for those investors who have the vision to invest in technologies that lead to brand new markets and business models. Yes, those are highly risky, especially for the first investors to enter these markets. But these are the innovations that can make a real difference in the world, and deliver out-of-this-world investment returns.

Embracing Innovation

One final lesson is for consumers. I have always been an early adopter, not just of new technology, but of new products, services and ideas in general. I love to try new companies, new products, and new business models. And it pays off, not only for me personally as a consumer, but also I find that it keeps me ahead of the curve professionally as well. So my advice to consumers is: don't be afraid to embrace bold new visions.

I'm still surprised by the number of people and entire organizations that have not embraced cloud technology, and continue to lose their data, work and productivity due to their attachment to legacy products. I'm shocked at how often I'm still asked to complete paper forms that get filed in physical filing cabinets, and how people develop elaborate schemes to try to keep track of all that paper and to find the information they need when they need it. And I can't believe how many companies, including supposedly sophisticated technology companies, expect highly talented job applicants to spend hours entering data into a job application system, one field at a time. At the core of each of these issues is often a reluctance by individuals to embrace new ideas quickly and to be flexible to learn new ways of doing things.

So I encourage us all to think big, aim for the stars, and embrace new technology that can make the world a better, safer, and more fun place for everyone.

What do you think?

What's your view on innovation and technology? What defines the best innovations? Do you embrace new technology, or do you feel that we should be skeptical and suspicious? Let me know in the comments section below, I genuinely want to know your thoughts!