The Autonomous conference, organized by Philippe De Ridder and the BOI (Board of Innovation) team, was an inspiring event featuring thought-provoking speakers. As I reflect on the insights gained, I’ll be sharing my thoughts and builds over the coming weeks.

Gianni Giacomelli‘s talk on AI-augmented Collective Intelligence resonated strongly with me and our philosophy at Lodestone Innovation. Building on Gianni’s thinking, I’d like to explore the distinction between ideas (or inventions) and innovation.

Innovation can be defined as a novel idea that, when implemented, adds value to an organization. The key lies in successful implementation, whether in the market or within an organization.

The image I’ve shared is from Gianni’s talk with my notation added at the bottom. I love the construct he uses of Why, What, How and that ideas are made of interconnected components. I’d expand on this model to think of the “Why” as 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀, the “What” as the interconnected 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀, and the How as the 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 that gets implemented in market.

A common challenge for innovation teams is maintaining focus on bringing great ideas to market where you can learn and they can create value. Let’s remember that implementation is central to what makes a great idea actually an innovation.