importance. In so doing, innovation becomes a way of life, and successful
growth is inevitable.
What's happened to innovation?
Every few years, there is a new buzzword or trend that the business world
embraces. Companies seem to latch onto and judge their organization's success
by assessing their prowess at bringing this ``buzz'' into their own organizations.
At one point in time, the buzzword was reengineering. Then, it was total quality
management. We later witnessed companies jumping on the dot com
bandwagon. And for many years now, innovation has been at the top of the list.
Economic conditions
Recently, however, the buzz around innovation seems to have reached a
pinnacle. Some feel that the word has been overused. Others balk at its
ambiguity. As a result, the business world seems to be searching for the next
big thing. This shift is made more evident as shaky economic conditions
permeate virtually every industry ± swallowing up profits, forcing layoffs
and prompting serious restructuring initiatives. The result is that companies
have been moving away from innovation and the development of
breakthrough new products and services towards ``quick fixes'' and
short-term, bottom-line results.
Perhaps innovation has been misunderstood and therefore its full potential
not realized. At the very least, the vital importance of continuously fostering
and maintaining an innovation culture has been underplayed. While many
companies have at one point in time spoken to the importance of innovation
and some have gone so far as to truly embrace innovation, few have been
able to maintain a culture that supports innovation as a top strategic priority.
With the myriad of benefits that accompany true innovation, there simply is
not a time when innovation should not be at the top of senior management's
``to-do'' list. Now more than ever, companies need to be cultivating
innovation within their organizations and implementing systems that will
ensure its success and longevity. This begs the question, what is innovation
really, and why are not more companies doing it?
Pervasive attitude
Innovation is a mindset
Is innovation a process? Is it a strategy? Is it a benchmark, a cross-functional
team, or a new-to-the-world process? Is innovation a management technique
or a leadership responsibility? The answer is that when innovation is done
well, it is all of the above and more. A truly innovative organization has
developed a mindset that permeates every aspect of its business. There is no
halfway measure. That is because innovation is a pervasive attitude, a
feeling, an emotional state, an ongoing commitment to newness. It is a set of
values that represents a belief in seeing beyond the present and making that
vision a reality.
Most managers are unable to recognize innovation when it is happening right
in front of them. Their understanding of what it is and what it involves leaves
a lot of room for misinterpretation. Some think of innovation as a
broad-ranging creative process, others as simple idea-generation. Some see it
as strictly the domain of the new products department, others know it has
something to do with marketing, but are not quite sure what. Most just want
to get it ``done'', but fail to devote enough attention or dedicated resources to
it to make this possible.