Three conditions for a Successful Innovation

1. Innovation is work: It requires knowledge. It often requires great ingenuity. (...) In innovation as in any other work there is talent, there is ingenuity, and there is predisposition. But when all is said and done, innovation becomes hard, focused, purposeful work making very great demands on diligence, on persistence, and on commitment. If these are lacking, no amount of talent, ingenuity, or knowledge will avail.
2. To succeed, innovators must build on their strengths. Successful innovators look at opportunities over a wide range. But then they ask, Which of these opportunities fits me, fits the company.
3. And finally, innovation is an effect in economy and society, a change in the behavior of customers, of teachers, of farmers, of eye surgeons- of people in general. (...) Innovation therefore always has to be close to the market, focused on the market indeed market-driven.

The Essential Drucker
Peter F. Drucker
Collins Business (2005)