innovation does not just happen

The Long Nose of Innovation by Bill Buxton (found via The Breakthrough Myth), discusses how long it generally really takes, until breakthrough ideas reach ubiquity. The author draws a parallel to Chris Anderson‘s The Long Tail to apply it to the process of innovation:

Any technology that is going to have significant impact over the next 10 years is already at least 10 years old. That doesn’t imply that the 10-year-old technologies we might draw from are mature or that we understand their implications; rather, just the basic concept is known, or knowable to those who care to look.
Here’s the message to be heeded: Innovation is not about alchemy. In fact, innovation is not about invention. An idea may well start with an invention, but the bulk of the work and creativity is in that idea’s augmentation and refinement. The newer the idea, the coarser the granularity of most analysis, and the more likely people are to say, “oh, that’s just like X” or “that’s been done before,” without any appreciation for how much work and innovation is involved in taking an idea from concept to wide practice.

Those things do not just happen. It is work and success is a process. An enjoyable book on the subject is Scott Berkun‘s Myths of Innovation. Here is a video lecture of him discussing innovation, creative thinking and ideas presented in the book:

We all like stories. Innovation stories that focus on moments of epiphany can give the impression that it is that moment that is important – rather than the perhaps long time of preparation that led to the moment.