Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.

There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas.

There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Whilst there is no sure fire route to commercial success, these processes improve the probability that good ideas will be generated and selected and that investment in developing and commercialising those ideas will not be wasted.

Radical Innovation

One of the common concepts in innovation is the idea of radical creativity. That innovation is only truly innovative if it is radical. But how do we define radical?

Of the many definitions, one of the most useful is that of Liefer et al (2000):

a) An entirely new set of performance features.

b) Improvements in known performance features of fine times or greater.

c) A 30% or greater reduction in cost.

d) Changes the basis of competition (Sage, 2000).

Whilst creators often define their ideas as innovative, do they meet the above criteria?

But even if they do, is this enough?

Venture capitalists and due diligence are rarely concerned with whether a product is innovative or not. The more pertinent questions include:

a) What problem will it solve?

b) Does the end user believe that the product will solve the problem? What the creator thinks is unimportant. What the end user thinks is paramount.

These topics are covered in depth in the MBA dissertation on Managing Creativity & Innovation, which can be purchased (along with a Creativity and Innovation DIY Audit, Good Idea Generator Software and Power Point Presentation) from http://www.managing-creativity.com/

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“Patients leaving hospital with surgical instruments inside them.” (DailyMail, April 2007).

“Sponge left inside Palm Beach County judge during surgery spurs him to seek reforms.” (Palm Beach Post, September 2011).

“Surgical Tools Left in 1,500 Patients Per Year.” (New England Journal of Medicine, January 2003).

Troubling headlines like these could be a thing of the past by using the same technology many already have in their cars.

Commuters, for example, often have sensor devices in their car that enable them to just drive right on through a toll booth instead of having to stop to pay the toll. This toll-paying technology uses something called Radio-frequency identification (RFID for short).

Over the past few years, however, RFID technologies have gone way beyond helping commuter’s get to work on time…

Here’s how it works.

RFID technologies use radio waves to automatically identify people or objects. The most common method of identification is to store a serial number on a microchip. This microchip is attached to an antenna (the chip and the antenna together are called an RFID transponder or an RFID tag). The antenna enables the chip to transmit the identification information to a reader. The reader converts the radio waves from the RFID tag into digital info and the digital info is then passed on to computers to decipher it.

Some operating rooms, like the University of Pennsylvania, have major pieces of equipment tagged with RFID devices linked to a virtual web-based map of the operating room. If someone happens to misplace that (often expensive) equipment, staff can just go to the web-based map to find out where it’s hiding.

Can’t these medical devices and equipment just have a bar code, you may ask?

Sure, but bar codes are “line-of-sight” technology, meaning that a scanner has to “see” the bar code to read it. Where RFID tags can be read as long as they are within range of a reader. If a bar code label is ripped or soiled, something that would most certainly happen if left in your rib cage, there’s no way to scan the object.

Another thing to note about RFID, for all you medical devices salespeople out there…

This same technology is also being used at some hospitals to track hospital and operating room visitors…

According to Dr. William Hanson, author of The Edge of Medicine: Technologies That Will Change Our Lives, “We insist that visiting salesmen wear RFID-tagged fluorescent vests so that if someone wants to find a prosthesis salesman who was just lurking around where he shouldn’t have been a couple of minutes ago, we can track him down.”

Something to think about next time you go out on a sales call!

While RFID technology certainly has many benefits, including decreasing malpractice lawsuits due to a leftover “gift” in a surgery patient’s abdomen, some take issue with the “next-gen” uses of RFID…

As mentioned above, RFID can help identify objects or people. Non-hominid, animate “objects,” for example, that most commonly interact with RFID tags are our pooches and kitties. When I adopted my beloved Rat Terrier from the shelter, I opted to have an RFID chip implanted between her shoulder blades so that we could easily be reunited should she be unable to find home. As I found her as a stray, it just made sense to not have her in a “lost” situation again.

But in humans?

Some argue that this will leave us “nowhere to hide.” Others say that it’ll make it too easy for “business, corporations, Wal-Mart, and Uncle Sam” to use and intrude…

And still others? Well, being “tagged” just makes them feel like a slab of meat!

At this point in time, the idea of “tagging” people just steps over the line for most.

So, what do you think?

RFID: A great innovation that can help save lives, find lost people, keep us safe, and protect our well-being?

Or…

RFID: Way too sci-fi and an unjustifiable invasion of privacy?