I would agree that I am kind of late to the innovation party but I don’t think innovation is ever going to away. Without it, we will never advance as a society or culture. As you know, we’re entering the conceptual age where creativity and innovative thinking will trumpet analytical and conventions.

I think you’re referring to innovation within the “planning” world where strategists and planners spend countless hours coming up with theories and “tools” for innovation. When in reality they spend 99% of their time thinking and 1% of their doing anything about it. I think today’s day and age, with the ability of the web and technology to allow people to fail harder, we’ll see a lot more people trying to innovate over talking about it.

I’ve always thought innovation was doing something that hasn’t been done before. Apple has done it. So has Method. And companies such as Facebook and Google do it everyday. They aren’t really focusing on how to do it but focusing on just doing it. Cross functional teams are one approach to innovation. So are different processes. It really comes down to what works for you.

And yes, I guess it’s the action vs words debate. I’m more on the words side. Thanks for the comment! Would love to dive deeper inot this.

First, I think you’re coming late to the “innovation” party, and if you’re not careful, you’ll get caught in the “innovation” bubble bursting.

“Innovation” is too loosely defined by too many people and firms. As a result, I believe it will lose it’s power as a term that can provide change or results. There’s a couple paths that are usually taken. One, you spend most of your time trying to define what you mean by the term with better, more descriptive language (that isn’t consistent from one firm to another), or two, you hide the term in the black box of “proprietary methods” that aren’t really so unique (but that you’re trying to make sound more impressive).

Generally, “innovation” can mean a range of positive things from cross functional teams to challenging your assumptions to at its most basic level doing things differently anywhere at any time. I believe a slowing economy will cause a flight to quality. In other words, PR speak and black box methodologies will be shunned for more authentic, concrete descriptors of what is being paid for. It’s more than just semantics.

Shit, I sound like Hillary (action vs. words debate).