There are two primary sources of innovation – demand pull, and technology push. In the digitally driven, socially connected world we live in, user innovation has taken front and center in some of the most marketable inventions of late.

Elizer Varias

And in almost all cases, user innovation came about because of a need that a user could not be fulfilled by the market. All this while, start-ups have increasingly disrupted and blurred traditional market boundaries by leveraging on these user-led inventions. Companies that fail to keep up, and continue to rely on R&D done in-house, ultimately fall by the wayside.

It thus begs the question: is necessity truly the mother of invention?

This brings us to the motivations behind the mind of the innovator. Clearly, there are instances where overwhelming need leads not only scientists and researchers, but common folk as well, to develop ingenious solutions (visit Patient Innovation, a platform launched by our own Operations professor Pedro Oliveira, that aims to collate and share innovative patient care methodologies from patients and their relatives suffering from various illnesses). At times, the need could even be as trivial as keeping tabs with a song book in a choir, a la inventor of the Post-It.

However, there is clearly evidence to the contrary as well. Some of history’s most prolific inventors (Da Vinci, Edison) did not have any particular need in mind when coming up with their inventions, they just did. In modern times, we can think of Google as a company that encourages and cultivates inventions, no matter the marketability or practicality.

So while need does facilitate innovation, it does not seem to be the overarching driver. What then fuels invention?

Imagination.

Remember in your childhood, when you would come up with some wacky, bizarre creations (cardboard robots, wooden spaceships, pillow forts) even when you have never seen one? And these could not have been borne out of need, because really all children need are food and sleep. Yet we have been inventing since we were young. And what really do we have then, but our imagination, our sense of creativity?

In business, we oftentimes get too caught up with managing costs, or knowing what consumers need and want. But for businesses to really embrace the spirit of innovation, they would need to develop an environment where imagination is celebrated, not shackled in protocol, processes and frameworks.

So next time you have what you think is a hare-brained idea, speak out and let someone know. It could be the next big thing.