Internet Junkie Biz

The core concept of innovation is doing something in a way that has never been done before. It’s about embracing and even initiating change with the expectation that the result will be advantageous to you.

One of the basic foundations of any market or industry is that it operates on a set of rules. These rules dictate that companies within a market make choices and consequently, sacrifices. The necessity of choice in systems is basis for the entire discipline of economics.

The beauty of innovation, of doing something in a way that has never been done before, is that it can change the rules of a market and thus render the requirement of choice and the pain of sacrifice unnecessary.

History is littered with examples, including the invention of the assembly line. Manufacturers used to be faced with the choice between quality and quantity. If they chose the quality of expertly hand crafted high quality products, then they were forced to accept the high labor cost and inefficient, low output manufacturing process that went with it. If they chose the quantity of efficiently and cheaply produced products, then they were forced to accept the low quality and unreliability of the manufacturing process that went with it. The evolution of the assembly line rendered this choice between quality and quantity unnecessary. By focusing on the specialization and repetitiveness of tasks in the assembly process, assembly lines allowed for relatively cheap labor to efficiently produce reliable, relatively high quality products. This game changing innovation completely restructured the manufacturing industry and allowed the early adopters of the new technique to set themselves apart from their competition and thrive in the new environment they created for themselves.

In today’s financial services industry, banks can no longer afford to continue playing by the established rules of the game. The need for new, innovative approaches supported by enabling technology is paramount. Banks seeking to break away from their competition and create a new, opportunity rich environment for themselves need to seek out innovative technology vendors whose solutions can break the current operational trade-offs that define today’s industry.