2- Radical Innovation: Embracing Experimentation & Debunking Myths
a conversation with Zak El Fassi
The Africa Deep Tech Community recently held a captivating talk by Zak El Fassi, Founder and CEO at Zaigood Labs. The insightful conversation focused on the concepts of innovation and experimentation, challenging prevalent beliefs and sparking a new understanding of the innovation journey.
Background
The Africa Deep Tech Community is dedicated to facilitating insightful conversations about radical innovations and cutting-edge technologies in Africa. In line with this commitment, our recent speaker, Zak El Fassi, brought an intriguing mix of radical innovation, experimentation, and entrepreneurship to the table.
Unpacking Radical Innovation & Experimentation
During his talk, Zak delved deep into the pervasive misconceptions about innovation and experimentation, challenging our thinking patterns and offering a new way of viewing the innovation process.
He proposed that innovation is more than just introducing new ideas, methods, or products. It comprises developing new technologies, creating new business models, and implementing existing ideas in innovative ways. However, he distinguished radical innovation as imposing a profound shift, significantly deviating from existing products or technologies, and impacting the way we live or conduct business.
This definition of radical innovation as a disruption that creates new markets and challenges the established norms is compelling. It forces us to view innovation not just as an incremental improvement of the existing but as a game-changing overturn of the status quo.
The concept of the “Experimentation Cycle” was another insightful aspect of Zak’s discussion. It consists of a continuous loop of thinking, exploration, and validation. He emphasized that most radical innovations start as mere “thought experiments,” often dwelling in the innovator’s mind before taking a tangible form. Thus, viewing experimentation as an integral part of radical innovation is crucial to changing the world.
A Recipe for Radical Innovation Teams
An innovative team, according to Zak, needs to be autonomous, tiny, ambitious, risk-aware, with leadership that acts as gatekeepers and shields from corporate interference. These teams should lean more towards potential impact, rather than focusing solely on profitability. Breaking beyond the monetary constraints allows a mindset shift that boosts innovation.
Innovation in E-commerce
Zak’s thoughts on innovation in African e-commerce particularly resonated with the audience. He noted that much of the existing e-commerce framework leans towards Western practices, leaving a wide gap in catering to uniquely African trade dynamics. He touched on opportunities to innovate in this sector, pointing out the exciting potential of combining voice technology with e-commerce.
Final Thoughts
Zak El Fassi’s talk was not just a discussion about innovation and experimentation – it was a call to action. It challenged us to embrace innovation beyond product improvements or new methods and pushed us to seek radical changes that encompass cultural, economic, and societal shifts.
The Africa Deep Tech community is eager to continue facilitating these thought-provoking discussions to inspire more innovators in the African tech scene. Remember, each breakthrough, each radical innovation begins as a mere seed, a simple idea. It is up to us to nurture and grow these seeds, embracing the courage to upend the status quo and create something truly extraordinary.