This reminds me of an experience I had several years ago, when, at the end of the professional programme of an innovation event, a well-known Hungarian comedian tried to interpret the mysterious concept of innovation. He shared a short story with the participants about how, while travelling to the event, he tried to imagine where he might have been invited and what the professionals attending the innovation agency's event might be doing. He came up with many humorous ideas and after a while he found the answer: Aha, I've got it! Innovation means "in ovation"! So, I'm part of the celebration, the party! Since then, I have often thought about this story and this possible interpretation, which is, of course, partly self-evident and partly far from the scientific explanation of the concept, the interpretation of the countless typologies of innovation. But still! As the years go by and we gain more and more direct experience of innovations taking place in small and large companies, in universities, or even those invented and implemented by our students, the more I am reminded of the celebration interpretation. There is no cheering, although quite a few innovators would deserve outstanding recognition for their years of hard work. Of course, there are state and corporate innovation awards and recognitions for those who achieve outstanding results. However, innovation depends on the persistent work of everyday "heroes", the diligent, tireless innovators, experimenters, engineers, developers and office or production line workers, and their coordinated cooperation with their colleagues, managers and customers. And it must be said that innovation is not the domain of Don Quixote-type lone obsessives, but of well-coordinated and motivated teams.

Continuing with the literary analogy and referring back to the quote from Anna Karenina at the beginning of this volume, it is important to point out once again how many ways there are to ruin innovation. It is an extremely complex and complicated matter, which is successful when, after perfect market preparation, it wins the approval of customers and buyers, from conception to organisational support and professionally executed implementation. The whole process is therefore not about us, the innovators, or the various supporting players, but ultimately about the laughing and paying (!) customer. Of course, it is very important to build organisational, corporate, university, regional and national innovation ecosystems. Huge sums of money can be spent on innovation, but according to our research and the innovation management literature we are familiar with, this only makes sense if as many people as possible can be involved in the system. This requires openness, transparency, training for the various stakeholders, and continuous awareness-raising. Just as the open innovation paradigm has conquered global corporations, which are now collaborating with their competitors to carry out significant technological developments, the results of which can be adapted by each company for its own use, small and medium-sized enterprises also need a change of mindset and new knowledge. It is not enough to make excuses that there are no resources for innovation. It is possible to start small and there is no need to immediately think that innovation requires the purchase of expensive equipment and then placing significant orders with various experts.

The results of the research presented in the volume and the corporate case studies confirm that it is possible to start with a few thousand euros, and that it is best to encourage and motivate employees with development ideas through such smaller projects. Of course, this requires open-minded owners, company managers and professionals who plan for the long term. Anyone can be innovative! Many people have the "X-factor", or "I-factor", the innovation factor, which can be brought out in the right way, as popular TV shows prove year after year by gluing millions of viewers to their TV sets. In our opinion, it is primarily up to leaders to tune the organisation and encourage individuals and teams to come up with new innovations. We are confident that the development models, management methods and techniques we have shared will help bring about numerous innovations.

We could go on at length presenting further techniques and offering wise advice, but the most important thing is that they are applied and become part of regular operations. We wish you perseverance and success in this endeavour. And don’t forget to celebrate innovation!