Create your innovation ecosystem the iWay

Everybody in the technology and the business world has been astounded to see the growth Apple has seen in the last decade. Some say it is marketing, some say it the design brilliance, and a lot of people say it is the brilliance and vision of Steve Jobs. One of his brilliance was to create an innovation ecosystem around Apple’s products. He wasn’t content with only changing the music industry. He went on to change the mobile and computing industry as well. 

The graphic below will help us understand the innovation ecosystem better.

If we look closely, Apple did not start everything from scratch. They evolved iPod with flash memory and touch screen technology which were developed outside. Now, add a mobile phone and an internet communications device to iPod, you have an iPhone. Widen the screen of iPhone and increase computing capacity, you have an iPad. Usually, companies add features to their products, Apple added products (phone, tablets) to their existing features/technologies. Strange, isn’t it? Next in the ecosystem would be widely rumoured iTV? Very smartly, they created an innovation ecosystem and developed products that were disruptive for mobile and computing industry. Next in line is $100 billion TV industry.

May be some innovative organizations can take out some lessons from the Apple way (or iWay). First of all, the organizations need to have a vision, a vision that is not restricted by the existing limitations. The vision should be of an ideal product or solution in their domain. Once the vision is there, solutions should be looked both inside and outside the organization. One should be ready to go beyond their expertise and technology domain to bring the outside solutions and integrating them into their products. It might be a new product altogether.

Also, the organizations should think about creating an ecosystem around their existing products or solutions. If they modify their products a bit, can they solve some other customer need which is not their existing focus? For e.g. an insulin delivery device, if it is modified a bit, can it be used for diagnosis as well? Can it be used for delivering fluids during surgery? Can it be used for fluid extraction instead of delivery or both? Can it be used for delivering fluids in aerospace or auto industries where precision is the key? Possible I guess. If you could do that, you could create an altogether different market and create disruptive products.  

Start thinking about creating your own innovation ecosystem, the iWay.