Innovation – a word that is common to all ears; its meaning differs depending on the person you are talking to. To a businessman, innovation is bringing a paradigm shift in the way commerce is. To an engineer, it is the discipline and process of applying techniques for analysis, and the practice of methods to conceive and develop original solutions to problems. These are only two of many definitions one can give to innovation, but even with so many definitions available, there is one thing that these descriptions have in common: innovation brings change to the world, whether it is for the good of humanity or for its eventual downfall. The word bears a different meaning to each of us, but The Menagerie brings a picture of how innovation began its journey in civilization.
Innovative steps for life
Innovation is not a one-time stint. It is a gradual process, and these are some general steps to help you apply innovation even more to your life.
1. Choose an area for improvement, identify the problem.
It all starts with a glance around. The best material to work with or to innovate can be right beside you – the more commonplace it is, the better. Start with something that seems so common or very “day to day”. The more mundane it is, the more potential it has to be something better.
Most people think that the best innovative ideas are out-of-this-world inventions. The majority are inclined to the notion that innovators are eccentrics – society’s outliers. Every layman, however, cannot be an Einstein, but every layman can be a resourceful critical thinker, and as such, you must focus on what you are familiar with.
Why not some personal reflection to illustrate the application of these steps? What if you are inefficient in doing your homework? Having been given adequate time, you are still unable to finish it because of many distractions or an overly large workload. As students, you are faced with this dilemma every day, week and year, and unfortunately, some of you have to resort to cramming which is not a very good option if quality of work is a priority. Therefore, what can you do to solve it?
2. Defamiliarization.
The next step is to take apart the subject to be improved. Whether it is novel or just an enhancement, designs are made in parts, and then assembled as a whole later on. It is important to note that innovation involves unique solutions. If they are not unique and new, then that solution should have existed before.
Moreover, distinctive solutions may sometimes mean using known tools for unconventional functions. For example, ever used toothpaste to clean your jewellery? Ever used sandpaper as a nail file? Although these examples are quite rustic, they still prove the point. That is called defamiliarization; it is taking something you thought you knew and looking at it from another point of view to open up other possibilities.
Carrying on with the homework situation, dissecting it into its work components and looking at it from another perspective will help you identify what specific part requires your attention. Is your laptop open in front of your notebook with pages from 9gag? Is that why you are performing so slowly? Do you not understand the topic you are reading? There are different ways to look at the scenario; you should assess one puzzle piece at a time to tackle the whole.
3. Plan, Do, Check, Act.
Once you have identified the cause of the problem, it is time to lay-out your possible alternatives for a solution. The most cost-efficient answer is always preferred. Selection of alternatives is like setting a target. From here on out, innovation is executed just like a project, and must be managed like one – hence, the application of the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle. Plan the alternative. Do the necessary preparations and data-gathering for it. Put together the most fitting materials and people to help with the process. Check if everything passes standards and is in line with what is being looked for, and act on your plans. Follow through with constant reinforcement to make sure your innovation or improvement process does not fall short of what you expect it to be.
4. Benchmark.
Last, you have to integrate continuous improvement. Nothing is permanent and innovation is rooted on the main idea of change. You should always compare your methods to other people’s methods and make it a point to improve your performance to be at par, or surpass the best out there. Innovation requires a creative and open-mind, but more than anything, it is a never-ending process.
Perhaps you could try new studying techniques recommended by other people and evaluate its effectiveness for yourself.
Innovations in a green campus
Man will never be fully satisfied with what he or she has. It is in our blood to want more, and do more. This is one of the reasons technology blossomed and is still continuosly improving.
Not even Lasallians could be wholly contented with their home ground – the campus, which has a special place in our hearts. This is where we, at The LaSallian, jump in and unleash our creative juices to tick off a list of possible spots to “innovate” or toy around within our very own DLSU.
If it is convenience we are speaking of, we might as well have air-conditioners installed inside canteens located at the heart of the campus – mainly the Z2 canteen. More corridors, such as the one connecting the Gokongwei Building and the Miguel Building could be mounted, particularly one that would connect Andrew Gonzales to remote edifices – La Salle Hall, for example. While we are at it, it surely would not be a futile dream to hope for faster elevators in both the Andrew and Yuchengco buildings. Let us not forget the bit about the lack of elevator music, too!
Thinking green? Students all deserve to get a bit of fresh air not from heaps of papers and books. They, however, lack the chance to enjoy the greenery surrounding the entire campus because of the insufficient number of benches. Other than providing for outdoor seats, why not construct little pockets of foliage in all the buildings? Andrew and Gokongwei buildings, for example, are a long way off from the greenhouse that is the Marilen Gaerlan Conservatory and La Salle Hall. By situating miniature gardens in or near such remote buildings, students would get the chance to take a breather and appreciate Mother Nature more for its beauty.
Innovation, to infinity and beyond
Innovation, though grandiose and complicated, begins with a dash of creativeness and a touch of imagination. The lack of something will carve a way for us to create a world-revolutionizing product, and how these products will come to be would depend on how we view them to be. Thus, as simple as it may sound, anybody and everybody can bend matter, and twist the concepts of space and time in their minds, so long as they will utilize their imagination. Besides, technology is already here to bring our hyped-up fantasies to life.
It seems innovation continues to flow through our daily lives, whether we notice, or left disregarded. If it is major enough to hit the newspapers or as minor as providing a simple solution to a problem we have in our theses, innovation is here to stay.
We, Lasallians, believe that the future begins in our University. The future holds many doors, and we have to be prepared to take the challenges thrown to us. So let Buzz Lightyear’s famous quote drive you, Lasallians, to reach the stars and to create innovations that would change the country, and maybe even the world, for the better.
