I was sitting on the train the other day when a young girl tugged at her mother’s sleeve and asked, “Who’s driving the train?”
Without hesitation, her mum simply replied, “It’s driverless, darling.”
That was it.
No further questions. No sense of awe.
The girl, clearly still visibly puzzled by the idea, goes back to staring out the window as the train sped on.
This moment left a lasting impression on me.
There was a time when the idea of driverless trains belonged in science fiction. Now? Nobody bats an eye anymore.
Somewhere between impossible and everyday, the magic disappeared.
That’s the thing about innovation: before it is, it isn’t.
So what drives innovation? When does novelty turn into normalcy? And what does this mean for the innovators and leaders of tomorrow?
Read on to find out.
The Gap Between Wonder and Routine
Back in my day (apart from the fact that I still had hair), life looked a little different.
Want to listen to your favourite song? You’d dig through a pile of cassettes, wind the tape back with a pencil, and pray it didn’t snap. Today, you open Spotify and the world’s entire music library sits in your pocket.
And don’t get me started on reversing cameras. I remember when parallel parking meant pure guesswork. Now, your car gives you a 360-degree view without even having to poke your head out the window.
At first, all this feels like magic.
Then somehow, it just becomes mundane.
That’s the strange thing about progress. The faster technology moves, the quicker we stop noticing.
And sometimes, we even mock innovation itself. Every time Apple releases a new iPhone, the internet’s first question is, “Aside from the price tag, what actually changed?”
It’s funny, but it also says something deeper about us as consumers.
People are getting bored of innovation faster than ever. What once amazed us is now expected. And for innovators and leaders, that’s the real challenge.
Because innovation isn’t about making phones thinner or increasing storage.
It’s about meaning.
It’s about convenience.
And it’s about creating something that makes life genuinely better and worth paying for.
Otherwise, it will never take off.
How to Innovate Without Ending on the Chopping Block
Today’s consumers are wired differently.
Psychologists call it hedonic adaptation — the tendency to get used to new things fast. The “wow” window keeps shrinking, and what once amazed us becomes ordinary almost overnight.
That’s great for resilience, but tough for product teams who rely on novelty to keep people excited. Because when everything feels familiar in weeks, innovation can start eating itself.
LEGO learned that lesson the hard way. In the early 2000s, the company nearly went bankrupt after chasing every trend imaginable: video games, theme parks, and even fashion. They were innovating endlessly, but ended up eroding their own margins instead.
It wasn’t until LEGO went back to its roots, focusing on creativity through play, that it found its footing again. By scaling back and listening to how families actually used their products, it rediscovered what made people fall in love with it in the first place.
The lesson? Not every breakthrough comes from adding something new. Sometimes, the smartest move is to pause, listen, and seek feedback from the people you serve. Because in a world that changes faster than ever, the brands that last are the ones that make their customers feel seen and heard.
Conclusion
As the train pulled into the next station that day, I kept thinking about that little girl’s question: “Who’s driving the train?” Her curiosity faded not because she lost interest, but because, in her world, innovation is expected.
That’s where most consumers are today. Like it or not, novelty will always turn into normalcy.
It’s not that people don’t value progress anymore; it’s that progress alone no longer earns attention.
For leaders, that’s the reminder that innovation means nothing if it doesn’t connect. Tell your story. Tie it to real human value. And listen to your customers, because chances are, they’ve already told you what the next great idea should be.
Because innovation that doesn’t connect emotionally will always fade into the background noise of “what’s next.”
If you’re ready to take your innovation from the whiteboard and into the world, you’ve come to the right place. Book a free discovery call with me here and let’s turn your ideas into outcomes that last the test of time.
