What does innovation mean for you?

Google Innovation

Written by VP of Advertising at Google, Susan Wojcicki defines and explains the eight pillars of innovation. These pillars have allowed Google to grow exponentially and stay innovative.

  1. Have a Mission that Matters: Make work worth more than a job into something you care about. By enforcing a mission statement with purpose, you can inspire all employees to view all ventures with an open eye.
  2. Think Big but Start Small: It is necessary to look at all steps, even the minor ones. By taking the smallest initiatives, one can generate great, new ideas.
  3. Strive for Continual Innovation, not Instant Perfection: Iterating allows companies to identify what works early and be able to respond properly.
  4. Look for Ideas Everywhere: It is important to hear ideas from all sources; Wojcicki sparks conversations with all employees with idea boards. Thus, problems are approached from different perspectives.
  5. Share Everything: By sharing everything, companies encourage discussion and find new ideas. 
  6. Spark with Imagination, Fuel with Data: Google allows employees to dedicate 20% of their week to focus on whatever they want. Wojcicki says that “what begins with intuition is fueled by insights.”
  7. Be a Platform: Open technologies allow anyone, anywhere to apply their skills to create new products. Thus, everyone is involved in the development. 
  8. Never Fail to Fail: Even with failed expenditures, professionals learn from their experiences and apply that knowledge to the development of new products. 

You can view specific examples of each pillar at: http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/articles/8-pillars-of-innovation.html