For the last five years it’s been “innovation this” and “innovation that” as marketers and CEOs scramble to get a spot on the innovation train. Reminds me of those good old days of the latter 20th century when laundry detergent started out as, “Best” then became “Superior” and grew into “Ultimate” in its cleaning abilities.
Same product, new label - nothing innovative there. Seems like we’re struggling with the same thing, today; wanting to add new labels to old products to prove we’re on the innovation train with everyone else. But new labels on old products, isn’t innovative. And adding more services or pretending to participate in social media, isn’t innovative, either. The question is: what is innovative today? What will innovation look like in 2010?
Looking at popular examples doesn’t necessarily help. Amazon.com was truly innovative – for the late 20th century. In the fast moving circles of doing business in the 21st century, Amazon isn’t really innovative, anymore. They’re very good at what they do, but they’re just Walmart online. What’s innovative about that?
Is eBay an innovative company? eBay did create a truly new business model that brought talented, curious, excited entrepreneurs a new way to make a living. The business model continues to thrive, but it’s old hat, now. Successful, but no longer truly innovative.
Blogs? Lost their claim to being innovative long ago. Facebook? Trying to be innovative, but really, it’s a social networking site working hard to make money by utilizing its members’ content and personal information…that’s so 20th century! And what about Twitter? Is that innovative? Yes, I give Twitter an A+ for innovation – but, its place on the innovation train is tenuous – where can it go next? It can follow in Facebook’s wake, but in the end it’s a 21st century conversation tool – and any innovation that comes its way will be from the many talented programmers, outside the twitter company itself, that continue to add apps to it.
Where does that leave us? Where does that leave innovation? Has the innovation train grinded to a halt?
Not unless mankind (ladies, don’t email me, please, we’re all part of the community of man) stops breathing, thinking, pondering.
As I see it, we are all innovative, to a degree. But, to use innovation in business, we need to stop trying to create the “next big thing” and, instead, listen to Richard Mammone who says in his recent Businessweek article, “Innovation is a better way to compete.” (my bolding) He says it’s up to the entrepreneur to “make the pie larger for everyone, rather than just making your slice larger within the pie.”
The innovation train is still chugging along, powered by “collective problem solving” internally and externally. In other words, innovation isn’t something one person creates or implements. It’s a collective effort. With that in mind, here are some thoughts on innovative ideas to watch in 2010.
--- Publishing 3.0 – more than print and more than the Kindle, Publishing 3.0 is social media taken to the extreme – more and more of us are putting our thoughts down on a social media site where they’re consumed by eager readers. It’s about the content, yes, but even more so about sharing, teaching, and learning. As Valeria Maltoni of Conversation Agent says: 2010 is the Year to Make Social Media Operational. I call it Publishing 3.0; you may have another term for it. In the end, much of the innovation to come will show up on social media sites, using Publishing 3.0.
--- The entrepreneurs. Yes, it’s common knowledge that entrepreneurs rule. But, too often we dismiss entrepreneurs in favor of the new ideas coming out of Google or IBM or Microsoft. I predict entrepreneurs will flourish in the coming months. They’ll offer us the tools, services, and connections we need and want, in a more personal way. Watch these talented people take Twitter and Facebook offline: back to our roots – where people can build honest relationships– going beyond face-to-face, into touch-to-touch: a revival of the power of the handshake. True word of mouth.
--- The network, tribe, community, other? There is no use for innovation without the people connection, be it a tribe (not a fav of mine); a network (too techie, if you ask me); or a community (ok, but is there something better?). We will see more people connecting than ever before, in new and different ways, this year. I predict we will go to “neighborhoods” online. These will spill offline, connecting and building relationships with people on a first-name basis. These neighborhoods will have leaders and followers – as any good organization does, and they will command the respect of other neighborhoods, and of brands. Perhaps brands will get the message, too, and begin building their own neighborhoods, going beyond the so-ordinary community model.
What do you think?
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About the Author: Yvonne DiVita, President of Windsor Media Enterprises, LLC: Books, Blogs and Beyond, is focused on consulting with businesses on how to effectively use new media tools. She blogs at LipSticking, with a focus on the women’s market.
