You Want Real Innovation – R&D Is Where Real ROI Happens. Creativity Is The Key…
When Tang, Shang, Naumann and von Zedtwitz stated that “R&D is the single most dedicated corporate function to combine customer needs with new industrial practices and technology potentials to create new products, processes and technologies.” this was not a lax statement. R&D —> Creativity —> Innovation is the process for which all new product development breakthroughs, marketing opportunities, and the future is created. Timing of these and the needs and desires of the marketplace is also a factor, it is the fundamental effort to focus on and leverage creativity that makes it all happen.
During the legendary days and early years of the Xerox PARC labs, creativity was at the core of all activities as was symbols ( logos ) traditions ( roller skating parties in the labs), myths (stories of legendary lab experiments gone bust), metaphors ( jokes), rituals ( practical jokes), physical settings (off site adventures), etc., all aligned to the increased creativity of the labs efforts of pursing years of dedicated work into the real world. It is this focused creativity that pushes innovations to their natural progression – real world births.