Are you innovating in your head?

I came across a funny Dilbert cartoon in our Innovation Excellence Linkedin Group (19,350+ members) thanks to David Williams and thought I would share it with everyone along with another one that I came across. Here is the first:

And the second:

You may notice a couple of interesting similarities between the two:

1. The main character is “innovating” only in their head
2. The manager is unsure how to help foster innovation, but thinks that he actually has helped

Now, if you are “innovating” only in your head, you are not innovating, you are dreaming. There is nothing wrong with dreaming, with being curious, or with being inspired (and all three are incredibly important), but they are only the beginning.

For a dream to become a reality, and for that reality to become an innovation, you must manifest it into an invention that others can experience and provide input into, and it must transform the useful seeds of that invention into widely adopted solutions valued above every existing alternative.

And so if you’re dreaming and not doing, or you’re not sure where to start, stop innovating in your head or trying to do all of it yourself. Form a team, and fill it out with people who excel at the different Nine Innovation Roles and turn your innovation dreams into innovation realities.

Image credits: Dilbert.com

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Braden Kelley is a popular innovation speaker, embeds innovation across the organization with innovation training, and builds B2B pull marketing strategies that drive increased revenue, visibility and inbound sales leads. He is currently advising an early-stage fashion startup making jewelry for your hair and is the author of Stoking Your Innovation Bonfire from John Wiley & Sons. He tweets from @innovate.