The Journey of Innovation: Evaluating Your Past, Present, and Future

By Jordan Anderson

Hello! My name is Jordan Anderson (she/her), and I am a second-year Innovation Academy student majoring in Finance. I am originally from Minnesota, #GoViks.

Innovation is not just a buzzword; it’s a mindset. It’s about questioning the status quo, challenging assumptions, and creating advanced solutions. The Innovation Academy has helped me develop this mindset and skills to spark innovation in my present, evaluate innovation from my past, and embed innovation in my future.

Past

Some of the greatest insights we gain from evaluating the past come from the lessons we learned. I’ve learned many lessons in my innovation past, one of the most valuable is that being open-minded is essential. I have lived in three different states, seven different houses, and attended four different school districts. Throughout these moves, my open-mindedness has always empowered me to try new things, go to new places, and meet new people. These new experiences helped me to excel in adaptability and innovation. Innovation and opportunity go hand and hand. By keeping your mind open to new things, new opportunities will arise, and therefore, so will innovative possibilities. In my opinion, one of the best ways you can be open-minded in your innovations is by refraining from settling for the first solution. While the first solution may be great, by settling, you could miss out on even better ones.

A common misconception about innovation is that it has to be tangible; however, I have learned that innovation can also be the development of a process. One relatable example is the COVID-19 pandemic. While there were many tangible innovations, we also had to ask ourselves ‘How might we innovate a process to stay productive while maintaining social distance?’ The great thing about innovation is that there usually is not just one right answer. During the pandemic, we innovated this process in different ways that were
specific to us. For example, I was working at a restaurant during the pandemic and as a staff, we had to create a new process uniquely for our restaurant to best serve our specific customers.

Another lesson I learned from my past is that teamwork if done right, is one of the greatest advantages of innovation. It’s a common experience to encounter challenges in teamwork, but if you can learn to leverage each member’s individual skills and actively listen to each other, your innovations will flourish. Teamwork fosters an influx of different perspectives, experiences, and thoughts. This allows brainstorming and innovative ability as a team to be a diverse combination of everyone’s best abilities and insights. Last summer, I had the opportunity to participate in the Innovation Academy Catalyst Competition. Throughout this experience, I worked with a wonderful team of four others to develop an innovative solution for Cox Enterprises. Over the five-week process, my team and I learned from, and listened to each other resulting in an award-winning solution, prototype, and pitch that incorporated all of our best individual abilities and insights.

Present

I can confidently say I think about or use innovation every day, whether it’s through reading articles about new innovations, applying for internships, or simply contemplating how to improve things. As a matter of fact, I keep a note on my phone titled ‘Holes in the Market,’ where I jot down ideas or issues I encounter in my everyday life, believing there’s a better solution. Additionally, in my present conversations with professionals, I frequently pose the question, “What are the newest innovations in your job, and how have they impacted your daily life?” I always find it fascinating to hear the responses and see how innovation impacts people’s lives on a daily basis.

Innovation doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking; sometimes, it’s little things. While it may sound silly, I consider the hot glue gun I brought from home to be one of my favorite tools for small innovations. It has become my go-to for everyday spontaneous innovation as it enables me to quickly create prototypes, ideas, and improvements.

Future

The beauty of the future is in the opportunity it holds. As I envision my future, I remember that there is innovation in everything. When I first came to the Innovation Academy, I found it hard to think of ways innovation would apply to me as a finance major. Today, I cannot look at my future in finance and not think about innovation. Python, Excel, and AI are just a few of the innovations that have had a recent impact on the world of finance. As long as you seize the opportunity, there is always room for innovation in whatever job you choose!

In conclusion, I encourage you to explore your own journey of innovation in your past, present, and future. Keep an open mind, be present in your teams, stay curious, and try the things that the little voice in your head says are crazy ideas.