Innovation is hot. You hear it everywhere; I even heard a pastor talking about how he “innovates his sermons.”

In 2007 I wrote that the word “leader” was being badly abused; five years later I added “entrepreneur” to the abuse list and today I’m officially adding “innovation.”

It has lost its meaning.

There was a time it was used sparingly and when it was used it referred to stuff like the printing press; steam engine, penicillin, transistor, computer, Internet.

Things that rocked our world.

These days innovation refers more to brand extensions and iterations.

New versions of old stuff are termed innovation to a ridiculous degree—Kellogg CEO John Bryant used the i-word when talking about the company’s new Pop-Tart flavor.

I’m not saying the i-word shouldn’t be used more broadly, since it also signals both a goal and a special type of MAP. 

Let’s just agree to limit its use to the appropriate, as opposed to the ludicrous.

Image credit: sign generator

This entry was posted on Monday, December 16th, 2013 at 1:15 am and is filed under Communication. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Tags: abuse, entrepreneur, innovate, leader, MAP (mindset attitude philosophy)
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