Learn from large companies: Innovate or Die!

I did write already about Innovation in a previous blog, where I linked the word Innovation with Growth. Most certainly, a more positive and optimistic statement than the one used for today's blog headline.

I was amazed recently to read a White Paper written by Longdon Morris on "Business Model Warfare" (a 325 kb pdf, 28 pages document) . Here are some excerpts that should make you think on how to prioritize Your business tasks:

- "The average life of a major corporation is not very long. ... only one-quarter of today's Standard&Poors 500 companies will be part of the index by 2020 and the other three quarters probably don't even exist yet!"
- Among the Fortune 500, the "average mortality rate is 12 companies per year or one per month"
- "Today, the three most critical market factors are accelerating change, increasing competition and increasing complexity"
- "..., the history of warfare and of business is the history of innovations that render past strategies ineffective"

"But whatever it is, one of the qualities that will distinguish the new thing is its 'Innovativeness'. This innovativeness refers to its distinctiveness, its originality, perhaps its usefulness, and more importantly its value."


Last word about this white paper: have a look at page 11 giving you 37 possible innovation targets (go through them and see the ones that might be applicable to Your business and most of all the ones You can afford to complete with success).

If you wish to delve more into Innovation, you might read this piece of work by Robert Heller where Innovation (he calls it "Unconventional management"), how to implement it and its link to Customer Value, will give you a first good roadmap.

If you get hooked by innovation as one of the prime drivers of Your business, you can get fresh news and articles from Boris in his Corporate Innovation Blog.

Another interesting blog to read more centered around Collaborative Innovation from Mike Docherty is also worth to bookmark.