At its simplest, an Innovation butterfly is the very initial cause for a particular instance of innovation. It may be a thought, a complaint, a protest, or even a rough sketch drawn playfully on a napkin while having coffee – something that seemed insignificant at the moment.
The mobile phone probably began with a thought by someone, who was stuck in the middle of nowhere, wondering “Now where do I find a telephone booth?”. Tata Motors claim to have hit upon the idea of an affordable car (which we now call the Nano) when someone noticed a family of four trying to balance themselves on a two wheeler. Start thinking of this scenario applying the extremes of pure logic, and you can break it into a number of vital pieces:
The mobile phone probably began with a thought by someone, who was stuck in the middle of nowhere, wondering “Now where do I find a telephone booth?”. Tata Motors claim to have hit upon the idea of an affordable car (which we now call the Nano) when someone noticed a family of four trying to balance themselves on a two wheeler. Start thinking of this scenario applying the extremes of pure logic, and you can break it into a number of vital pieces:
1. Potential inventor drives by on a busy road
2. Family of four gets on the two wheeler on the same road at exactly the same time
3. The person (inventor) looks outside and sees them
4. Visibility and weather conditions were good enough for him/her to see them and take notice
5. He wasn’t preoccupied enough to let the sight escape his mind
6. He/she wonders how the family can be helped out of this predicament
7. He/she thinks of, or probably discusses with someone or hears about the possibility of building an affordable car, while this memory is fresh in his mind
Each of these 7 appear to be independent of each other and and are seemingly insignificant to the bigger picture. But if any one of them had changed, the inventor never may have noticed the family and may never have noticed a business need for such an invention. This is what is called the Butterfly effect, as applied to innovation. And each of these steps could be the proverbial Innovation Butterfly – a seemingly insignificant and possibly underrated beginning to a major event of Innovation. Theoretically, any event before these seven could have been a contributor, such as whether the family was going for a movie, or to visit someone at a hospital.
You never know what could start a revolution. Keep your eyes open for the next big thing, but most importantly, keep your mind open!
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