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What comes to mind when you think of innovation? Is it a new product, a different idea, an “out-of-the-box” thinker, or just a new way of doing something? Within AME, we have agreed that innovation is more than just a singular concept. Innovation is creativity with a purpose. It can be doing something differently, not just better. Innovation is a hands-on process of collaboration and cycles of learning that is cultural. Furthermore, we believe it is improving products, processes, people, service and technology.
One of the vital, key result areas (KRAs) for AME is innovation. We have a team dedicated to furthering the goal of intertwining AME and innovation. To that end, the team launched a survey of the entire AME membership to identify those people, processes and companies that are innovative and/or progressive in today’s world. Armed with that information, the Innovation KRA team will work to build an Innovation Summit for early 2014.
The goal of the Innovation Summit will be to change the paradigms that may exist around the concept of innovation, innovators and what is considered progressive. The planned Innovation Summit is the first major step to have AME recognized as an organization that is known for bringing innovators together. Through the next few years, the goal is to have AME further develop its relationships with highly innovative companies and individuals so that we can further the mission of AME to share, learn and grow in the process of innovation.
A fantastic example of innovation in today’s world was shared at a recent Rock Stars of Innovation conference sponsored by Connect in San Diego at the Hard Rock Hotel. The keynote speaker was Chris Anderson, former editor of WIRED magazine and author of The New York Times Bestseller Free: The Future of a Radical Price and, more recently, Makers: The New Industrial Revolution. Anderson discussed how, using the concept of LEGO® Mindstorms™ basic robots and parts of a remote control airplane, he could create a working drone on his kitchen table with his kids.
The drone he built actually worked, and Anderson used open source collaboration to further the design using the Internet and founded DIY Drones (www.diydrones.com). A short time later, he and collaborator Jordi Munoz, a 19-year-old “techno-geek” from Tijuana, Mexico, created and built a bricks-and-mortar company called 3D Robotics. 3D Robotics (www.3drobotics.com) is an unmanned, aerial vehicle manufacturer (UAV) that makes “copters, planes, software and more.”
Built from different thinking, new ideas and open collaboration, Anderson and Munoz have become recognized innovators in today’s world. This same concept is the plan for AME related to innovation: think differently, bring innovators together and use collaboration to bring new ideas to reality. Stay tuned for more in innovation!
