Innovate with a purpose

Günther Braun, CEO, ROFIN-SINAR Technologies Inc.

Günther Braun, the president and CEO of
ROFIN-SINAR Technologies Inc., says innovation is a word that is overused in many
companies.

While Braun does believe that innovation
is an important part of his business, he says
innovation means nothing if it doesn’t help
the business in some definite way. That’s
why, he encourages employees to develop
new ideas that are in line with practical
goals and can be accomplished in the foreseeable future.

“Innovation is important, but it’s also
important that the innovations become new
products,” he says. “It’s important that your
innovations fall in line with what you can
sell and what you can grow in your business. Just innovating does not help your
performance.”

Braun tries to avoid ambiguity when
defining innovation, a word that can mean
many things to many people. Finding a
sharp focus to define innovation can be a
challenge.

“Innovation is a nice word, but it’s a
stressed word,” he says. “Not everything is
an innovation, but it can still be beneficial
to the company. My thinking is, what is
innovation? Is it when you change a little bit
or when you develop a completely new
technology?

“Innovation to me is when you create and
develop something very new, something
that was not done before, and it really
opens up a new business opportunity.”