Innovation Thinking

Innovation is the buzz word of most industries today especially in industries that are classified as technology driven. In fact, to thrive in some industries, a company must live or die by thinking and being innovative. With all of the rhetoric now about innovation, do most people you talk to about innovation give you a definitive answer about what innovation is and how you go about doing it? Or, is it kind of like being happy? Innovation is happiness and it means something different to everyone?

Well, there is some very interesting discussion about what innovation is and what it is not. Whatever an individual or company decides about what innovation is and how to go about "getting it," there are plenty of sad stories about how innovation has "creatively destroyed" a long list of well respected industry leaders. Some on the list were multibillion dollar international, Fortune 500 public corporations with a "centennial history" over 100 years long. Some invented the industry they dominated for more than one hundred years. Why didn't they see their fate coming? Were they blind to industry changing innovations introduced into their market by much smaller start-ups or did they have an arrogant "nothing can touch us attitude"?

It could be that innovation is not as easy as it sounds. Keep reading and we will explore the fascinating art and methodology of innovation. We will explore what fosters it and what kills it and the consequences of ignoring it as you wake up one day and your "cash cow" is suddenly missing from the field.

Why is it that some companies are excellent innovators and others are put out of business by the innovations their competitors are so successful at exploiting?