My definition of 'innovative' is providing value to the customer.
Interpretation
Innovation is about delivering value to customers through new ideas or improvements.
Mary Barra emphasizes that true innovation should not only be about technology or creativity but rather the tangible benefits it brings to customers. By defining 'innovative' in terms of customer value, she shifts the focus from merely creating new products to ensuring that those products meet the needs and improve the experiences of the users.
In practice
During a business seminar on innovation, this quote could be shared to highlight the true purpose of innovative efforts.
The biggest message I have for young women is, Don't start cutting off branches of your career tree unnecessarily early. Sometimes women say, I know I want to have a family or play in the local symphony, and they start pulling themselves out of their career path. You don't have to take yourself out of the running before you even start.
My parents were both born and raised in the Depression. They instilled great values about integrity and the importance of hard work, and I've taken that with me to every job.
We know where most of the creativity, the innovation, the stuff that drives productivity lies - in the minds of those closest to the work.
We always say Jordan is not rich in natural resources - we don't have oil or gas like some of our neighbors do - but I think in terms of human resources, we are quite lucky and we are really trying to foster an environment of innovation and technology. I think Jordan will emerge as a center of innovation in the Middle East.
Just as producers often give consumers things they want but didn't think to ask for, consumers sometimes come up with surprising uses for new inventions. When a new product appears, it can uncover dissatisfactions and desires no one knew were there.
The company's most urgent task is to learn to welcome, beg for, demand - innovation from everyone.
For a long time, I've ranted against naming your startup community 'Silicon Whatever.' Instead, I believe every startup community already has a name. The Boulder startup community is called Boulder. The L.A. startup community is called L.A. The Washington D.C. startup community is called Washington D.C.
The culture is what creates the foundation for all future innovation. If you break the culture, you break the machine that creates your products.
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