Innovation has been the buzz-word of the last few years. In a world that is becoming ever-more competitive we’re encouraged to be bold, ingenious and innovative in our approach.

The innovation word has become a staple in the workplace. But how innovative do our employees want us to actually be? With traditional work environments still in place in many work-places, are we encouraged to be pseudo-innovative or traditional with a pinch of innovative?

Having worked across government, agencies, and NGOs – I can attest that work environments are varied, and what might be innovative in one place might be plain run-of-the-mill in the next.

This week we explore innovation in Australia. July marks national innovation month, and on the 3 July the Secretary of the Department of Innovation conducted an opening event here in Canberra.

We’ll begin our “Young Guns” series featuring Madi Roberts, she’s not even 18, but her clothing design is taking the Canberra market by storm. Her ethereal creations are focussed on a Greek mythology concept, with flowers abounding bodices, and floating tulle skirts. Madi will tell us more about her passion, and where she sees her career going.

Contributor and Personal Development Guru Rob Way writes about how we can be more innovative. What are the barriers and motivator associated with innovation? How can we think outside of the box, or make the box disappear altogether?

We’re also featuring Jen Brown – who took her yoga passion to the next level. After training to be a yoga instructor, she was inspired not only to teach but to bring all things yoga together via two ediitons of her Summer’s End Yoga Festival. Jen tells us how it was actually the “worst yoga teacher” who motivated her to get out there and teach, reinforcing an interesting notion – sometimes it’s the uninspired who inspire us the most.

The ingenious company Nectir is our major sponsor for innovation week. Perth based, Brad Dessington, first had the idea to create an ideas management platform for business that included social gamification elements. He teamed up with Canberra’s Tristan Maddigan, and a team of other inspired professionals, raising over $2 million in seed funding to get the platform started.

Watch out for these articles and a whole lot more this week, from local business news to international stories, which shape the face of the Canberra market. We’re aiming to keep you business savvy with a variety of content – podcasts, video, and editorial.

This week, we’re also starting our Tuesday Pitch. We’re giving one innovator the opportunity to come into our offices and pitch their business to potential investors.

Many argue that in the world of today, innovation is tough. There are so many distractions, we live in an information revolution – how can we focus enough to innovate?

Daniel Goleman, in his New York Times Bestseller, Focus, argued that there is value in a mind adrift, unplugging and simply allowing ourselves a few moments of mental reprieve, even potentially a daydream or two. He wrote, “we might revise our own thinking about a “wandering mind”, by considering that rather than wandering away from what counts, we may well be wandering toward something of value.’ Goleman argues that these moments of lost thought may be the most fruitful of our day.

So, this week let you mind wander.

It’s all about being inspired, ingenious, bold and of course innovative.

Lisa
Co-editor, The Shaker