Innovation Articles

By Jeffre Phillips

Why a Common Language Matters for Innovation

Nov-02-12

Innovation is a lot like the tower of Babel, only in reverse. A god-like leader, typically the CEO, requests, no demands, more innovation. And everyone in the organization runs off to "innovate" interpreting what innovation means and applying to their situation. This means that in any company several "innovative" things happen simultaneously:

- Old, tired ideas long in limbo are reframed as "innovative"
- Any small change to an existing product or service is labelled "innovation"
- A completely irrational, disruptive idea is justified on the basis that it is "innovative"
- Soon every thing is "innovative" and nothing is.
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