Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Is innovation the new integration?
So we've been reading tons lately about giant corporations needing to "innovate." Just last week, Wendy's announced it formed an innovation and strategy group which will "oversee research and development, insights and other functions." Ian Rowden, evp / chief marketing officer said ""We know that innovation at all levels, from the menu to packaging to the customer experience in our restaurants, is critical to our success. Everything is now strategically linked and will work tightly together." Hmm. Sounds. Like. What people meant when they talked about integration a few years back. Not to pick on Wendy's - the word has been coming up more and more in our observation.
The act of innovating, in the dictionary's opinion, just means "to bring in new ideas". This, in our mind, is a good idea in itself. For too long, companies have let the impersonal corporate structure take over not only their internal operations, but their public persona. People, and customers have been replaced by "consumers." Ideas, and thoughts have been replaced with "process" and buzzwords. "Surprise and delight" is an old-fashioned ideal, and human emotion has been replaced with computer-facilitated relationships. If "innovation" is the label applied to questioning this way, and "innovating" brings back simple human truth to the corporate sector, we're all for it! Let the innovation begin..!
So we've been reading tons lately about giant corporations needing to "innovate." Just last week, Wendy's announced it formed an innovation and strategy group which will "oversee research and development, insights and other functions." Ian Rowden, evp / chief marketing officer said ""We know that innovation at all levels, from the menu to packaging to the customer experience in our restaurants, is critical to our success. Everything is now strategically linked and will work tightly together." Hmm. Sounds. Like. What people meant when they talked about integration a few years back. Not to pick on Wendy's - the word has been coming up more and more in our observation.
The act of innovating, in the dictionary's opinion, just means "to bring in new ideas". This, in our mind, is a good idea in itself. For too long, companies have let the impersonal corporate structure take over not only their internal operations, but their public persona. People, and customers have been replaced by "consumers." Ideas, and thoughts have been replaced with "process" and buzzwords. "Surprise and delight" is an old-fashioned ideal, and human emotion has been replaced with computer-facilitated relationships. If "innovation" is the label applied to questioning this way, and "innovating" brings back simple human truth to the corporate sector, we're all for it! Let the innovation begin..!
