Marketing and Selling Innovation

in·no·va·tion (from dictionary.com)

"the act of making a change or a new arrangement; doing something new or different; the act of starting something for the first time"

If you're not marketing or selling your solution based on its ability to innovate, perhaps you should start.

Through 2010, business innovation will remain a top 10 business initiative among Global 1000 companies. In fact, 90 percent of executives from this esteemed body say innovation is key to their survival (Gartner research).

• By 2010, products representing more than 70 percent of today's sales will be obsolete due to changing customer demands and competitive offerings. (2005 Global Benchmark of Manufacturers, Deloitte and Touche).

• 54 percent of CEOs surveyed by IBM expect to radically change their companies over the next two years. These execs also plan to innovate operational and business models to drive business growth.

• Participants in the 2006 World Economic Forum said innovation in creativity and design will make 20th century structures obsolete, replaced by new models and more flexible business processes that serve more diverse, more global audiences.

Communicating the way you innovate, needs to take place at several levels and in various discussion frameworks, starting with the CEO or members of the CEO staff. Senior executives are clearly the ones putting priority on innovation - and they are the ones that can fund it.

Focus not just on business strategy, but process and culture. Our good friends at futurethink have tools and techniques for making innovation part of an everyday culture, not just a one-time brainstorm or initiative. Check them out at getfuturethink.com

Focus on people, not just technology. The enabler of change is most often identified in technology terms, but be careful not to let technology inhibit your efforts. If you have to choose, go for process innovation that is not dependent on big involvement from IT.

Find the person accountable for innovation processes, practices or learning. Many organizations have put such a person in place -- and it won't hurt to ask.  The owner of innovation ensures that people remain engaged in the ongoing process, not just the occasional brainstorm.