The old saying goes "build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door"…implying that all you have to do is find a better way of doing something and you'll be a successful innovator.
Not true
Lots of better solutions fail everyday and they fail for two basic reasons: #1 - They aren't really solutions. #2 - The marketing focuses on the "new and shiny" and neglects the customer's needs.
Do you really want to trap mice?
Of course you don't. The problem is NOT that you need to catch the little critters. The problem is that you don't want them in your house at all. A truly better solution is the one that keeps the mice out in the first place. A cat, for instance, or a patch in the wall, or mouse repellant, or mouse poison are all better solutions for keeping the mice out.
True innovation gets to the root of the problem and offers a solution that is more than new and improved. 
It looks at the problem from a different perspective and offers something that makes the jobs easier, faster, better, cheaper, or whatever matters most to the end user.
If you want to innovate in your business, you have to start with your customer's problems. Understand them, solve them and you will find innovation. Then and only then, are you ready to go to market.
