Alex Fair, founder and CEO of MedStartr.com, says you must listen and ask the right questions.

"Who do you listen to most? The answer is the marketplace – you have to follow the money," he told attendees at the Innovation Symposium on Sunday at the 2013 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition. 

Fair believes that active listening to customers is an essential aspect of innovation that is often overlooked.  

"Innovation is understanding what people want, determining how much of this is profitable, and then deciding what can be done with it," Fair said.

In the healthcare industry, engaging both patient and provider in the innovation cycle is crucial to successful development of products and processes. Leaving both communities out of the discussion is a "critical mistake," Fair said.

Addressing innovation from a perspective external to healthcare was Mark Buchalter, director of innovation and design strategy at Hornal Anderson Design in Seattle.

Buchalter began his innovation journey in commercial and residential architecture. He then experimented with furniture design, and ultimately moved into industrial design. He currently works with "building out the experience" of various high-profile brands, such as Starbucks.

According to Buchalter, the "sweet spot" of innovation links desirability, feasibility and viability. All three are encompassed by "believability," he says.

"Innovation requires a shift in mindset," Buchalter said. He then detailed five "innovation mindsets" that are precursors to the innovation process (1) Be Human; (2) Embrace Ambiguity; (3) Show Don't Tell; (4) Rinse and Repeat – the idea that you should "put your ideas out there" and learn from the reaction; and (5) Harness Diversity.

Buchalter encouraged those in healthcare to seek inspiration in other fields for inspiration.

"It's really key to look outside your industry for innovation breakthroughs," he said. "Look for analogous examples that address the pain points in your industry."

Nonetheless, the overall approach to innovation in healthcare and other industries is "the same," Buchalter said.  While the scale, role of government and physical consequences of mistakes are much different than in private industry, the "mindset" should be identical, he affirmed.

The Innovation Symposium, one of the HIMSS13 pre-conference events, was intended to offer different perspectives on the innovation process, including from outside healthcare, to inspire innovation and recognize practical ways to operationalize innovation.