Ideas are a creative response to a problem for which no solution presently exists. They are created as people find themselves in unique situations, and they draw inspiration for the answer from everything around them. But, so often, people forget that, when you boil it down, neither their problems or their situations are all that unique, really. Lots of other people are likely to have similar challenges to resolve, and the result is they almost always come up with similar solutions.

This is the reason you regularly find the same idea sprouting up in multiple places at the same time, even though the creative people proposing it don't know each other at all.

It seems logical to conclude, given this, that if you want to increase the success of your innovation efforts, getting more ideas will probably not have the result you're looking for.

Many people argue that what is actually needed is a systematic process which allows creative people to generate a track record of big product hits. This follows from the fact that it isn't ideas which are important to the innovation process, but the execution which follows them. Clearly, there are limited resources available in any organisation, so focussing on big ideas must be a good idea.

This, of course, is the strategy that's been followed by Apple, and other companies of its ilk. First, it released iPod, a massive hit that redefined the way that music is sold. Then it released iPhone, a device which redefined the way that people expect to use their mobile by making the competitive game about apps. And recently, it's released iPad, which it hopes will redefine the way customer acquire and use the products of the liberal arts.

None of these products are especially innovative, and they certainly aren't category unique. But they are executed beautifully, and each success has built on the previous one.

In the end, this is the real signal that a company has a major, and successful innovation program working for it.

Would you like to create a string of hit products? The easiest way to do it is start an innovation program with laser-sharp focus on what works. James Gardner's free online innovation book will tell you how.

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Tags: apple, Business, computers, innovation, ipad, Iphone, ipod, Ipods, new product development, NPD, sales, strategy, technology

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