Innovation – why the buzz?

Yes innovation seems to be allover these days.

Why the buzz?

Why now?

Here are some reasons:

• The pace of change is accelerating – every new year is faster than the one before, and nobody has experience of a time when change was faster than today
• Complexity is increasing rapidly – a trend that is likely to continue and that is best countered with creative competencies
• Innovation is a true source of competitive advantage
• Innovation is the only legal way to keep a monopoly going
• An organization’s creativity may be the only thing that cannot be imitated  (though as the art of copying is accelerating too, one must be the more innovative to keep ahead)
• As we see stagnant behemoths die, we recognize that innovation is necessary for the survival of an organization, perhaps for all organizations
• The most progressive organizations have realized that individual creativity, an essential component of business innovation, is developable and can be taught and learnt
• The most progressive organizations have understood that certain structures and cultures are necessary to promote innovation in a sustainable and continuous way

Today we have good academic research and solid evidence from the business world demonstrating the value of innovation for shareholders, for employees, for society. While many will debate the “how” of innovation (Strategy, processes, systems, behaviors, values etc) there is little contest for the “why”?

On the “how”, there may of course be differences in emphasis depending on how the “hard” and “soft” factors are interpreted by organizational leaders. For a comprehensive ”how” model that incorporates both the structural and the cultural drivers ofinnovation see www.theartofinnovation.net