I… for Innovation

Innovation is technology which meets sociology.

This is the valuable reminder we had during my last study trip to Japan.

Of course, the first part, technology, comes to mind first.

In Japanese factories, as elsewhere, digitalisation is on the agenda. Robotics, artificial intelligence, the use of data... the concerns are the same as in all the factories I visited. But there's one thing that's specific to Toyota: I saw no ideology, no bias, just total pragmatism. Digital 'solutions' respond to specific problems and coexist with the most astute Karakuri Kaizen*. Technology is not an end in itself. It is there to meet an identified or underlying need or desire, and above all it must not create new problems. The more powerful the technology, the more problems it can solve, the more complex ones it creates at the same time! Take, for example, government websites that allow you to obtain certain documents, such as a vehicle registration document, without having to go anywhere. What progress it is to no longer have to travel and queue. But what an insurmountable headache when, because of a 'crash' in the middle of work, you can no longer retrieve your blocked file or create a new one. That's when the complete absence of a human contact point that listens to you and helps you becomes cruel. You'd really like to get out of the way and queue... to talk to someone, someone who doesn't tell you that they can't do anything for you because "they don't have the rights to use the tool".

That's when you realise that sociology is crucial. Have the computer scientists who developed these 'solutions' really thought about the end user? How many times have you said to yourself, when using one of these applications, that you'd like to have a word with the guy who created it? Digitalisation that creates new problems is not innovation.

It's a bit easy to blame users' resistance to change, when we should perhaps be looking at engineers' lack of empathy.  Innovation is creativity that meets a customer, without which it remains creativity. To meet your customers, you must take an interest in them, and take it seriously. There is no such thing as a generic customer, only people, all different, with their own history and context. Taking an interest in them and their problems is the role of sociology. The role of technology is to propose clever solutions.

In my opinion, it's a false debate to set disruptive progress against small steps. To be able to propose technological breakthroughs, you need to have a precise understanding of users' problems, regularly test new solutions and verify your ideas. This regular feedback, in small steps, is the best way to bring about breakthroughs.

Creativity which meets a customer, technology which meets sociology. To my mind, a very good definition of innovation.

Cécile Roche

*Karakuri kaizen: passive robots. Creative solutions using a minimum of resources and a great deal of ingenuity, modelled on the Karakuri dolls of the 17th to 19th century, little jewels of automation capable of serving tea long before the invention of modern robotics.