The Unique Nature of Innovation

Abstract

Innovation is a competitive necessity today. Yet this competitive must-do is unlike any business activity I have come to know. It is an enigmatic endeavour that few have mastered. And those who claim to be masters of the dynamics of innovation secretly tell that they are still subject to the same peculiarities of innovation as any novice. Innovation can be, and often is, a cruel venture. It can put out the flame of a budding business in an instant, it can send a giant corporation reeling down the stock market and off the chart (permanently) and of course it can cause confusion and utter distress in already overburdened public services. For it is easier for an innovation to flounder, than to fall off a log. And believe me, my colleagues and I have the wounds to prove it.