The Tourist and the Traveller: Embracing the Paradoxes of Innovation

Have you ever been a tourist or a traveller? How did you plan that? What experiences did you collect? Ask a tourist and they will tell you that it is all about maximising time and money – see as many things as possible, take a picture and move on. Ask a traveller and they will tell you all about the hidden secrets of the land, how they felt when they met “that person” and how the experience has changed their worldview. So, question for the budding globe trotter is – what would you rather have – efficient quick wins or productive shifts in mindset? Maybe the plan is to have both at the same time and if so, you share similar sentiments to those who are either contemplating or already are on the journey of innovation. Yes, innovation is a journey in which destinations are often temporary. Where, journey is that of collecting knowledge and learning from experiences and destinations are the ‘photo-opportunities’, the time to sharpen up, go-to-market and get smarter. Destinations are temporary as the quest to get to the ‘next best thing’ keeps the senses active. Scholars in innovation call this the circular path of innovation: research-development-commercialisation-feedback-reflection (and repeat). (...)