As a manager, a leader or an employee in an organization, one of the toughest challenges you face is to get creative in your day-to-day work. New ideas for products, new ways of working, new policies, new strategies, new lines of business – any of these could fall under the category of innovating in an organization. While some companies are somehow able to come up with great ideas over and over again, many struggle to understand the secret to these companies’ successes. For any company to leap into success, you need to continually ask ‘what if?’ questions throughout the journey. The answers that sound the most promising would be the most feasible. Working professionals need a space that is collaborative and competitive at the same time to solve that problem creatively. It’s not just companies, but individuals who need to bring out their creative streak on a day-to-day basis. Even a parent trying to help their child out with their homework needs to come up with an innovative method to get the child to learn faster. At any phase of life, creativity is essential not just because you come up with something new, but also because it lets you learn and grow more. Many think the journey of innovation starts with a great idea. Not necessary. In fact, many useful innovation journeys start with identifying the right problem to be solved. Inspiration is key to innovation. If you thought innovation just comes about like a big bang, it may not. An individual comes up with an innovative solution to a problem when he first notices that a problem exists, is committed to solving it creatively, validates it, and the best of the innovation journeys complete their own life story. I recently interviewed Narayanan Krishnan, Lead Innovator of ISA Consulting Services on my show ‘Nuggets with Naveen’. He has come up with quite a few innovations in the past. His latest innovation journey is a device that will detect a heart attack successfully in advance. They have achieved to stay in the platinum 10 minutes of the golden hour through this innovation. When I asked him what inspired him to get into this innovation journey, he said, “My father has been my inspiration and teacher for all my life. He used to say, ‘Don’t embark on anything new until and unless there is an immense value to the community that you live in.’” He continued talking about the loss of his sister-in-law to a very sudden cardiac arrest. His first brush with death left him wondering how a body could exist now, but the soul departs 15 minutes later. After a lot of reading and research, he understood that 36% of heart attacks are silent. The reason for numerous unfortunate events is because most arrests aren’t treated at the right time. Narayan’s solution takes the person to the doctor at the right time so that treatment takes place before it’s too late. Yesterday morning, sad news greeted me with the demise of the legendary Bollywood actress Sridevi. She passed away because of a massive heart attack. Wish Narayanan’s innovation reaches many people and saves lives. The power of innovation is an untold tale. No matter the walk of life you come from, there’s no telling where the next big idea pops out from and how immensely it could change the world. There is an innovator inside of all of us. All it takes is curiosity, passion, and strong desire to make even a small impact on the world. Your greatest tool is your imagination. There is no shortage of problems in the society. Identify them, create the right mindset to solve them and find a great team to help you design the innovation. Let the innovator in you strive to foster that change.