What is Innovation?

Impact

What is classed as a "significant impact" has a subjective element to it. This depends on what the aim and context of the innovation were. So for example, the beneficiaries of the following may judge these as significant impacts:

» Global corporation sells cars that drive themselves.

» University copies something from another organisation, but it is new within the university.

» A department within an organisation introduces a new way of working that improves the efficiency of the department.

» Within a small team a new tool is created that benefits the team.

» Two colleagues develop an innovative system for sharing their research and development outcomes between the two of them.

Whilst all of these might have a "significant" impact within their given context, they clearly have different levels of impact in an objective, and absolute, sense. This aspect is dealt with next...