Here Innovation… Here Innovation… Come here boy…
Posted on | August 21, 2009 | No Comments
Where is all the innovation that everyone keeps talking about? It is not at the car dealerships. Cash for clunkers is broken because of poor planning and even in tough times it seems that old habits die hard… Please see this post by a friend as he tells a tale of his recent car buying experience… http://blog.waident.com/2009/08/economy-problem-try-leasing-car.html
The current stock market rally will surely level off or retract soon as everyone realizes that profits have been inflated by cost cutting measures and MBA stuff. When the company results begin to show decline because of no increase in revenue then what will everyone do?
Maybe that is when all of the magical “Innovation” will start? It is frustrating to hear this term thrown about in all of the media outlets, industry rags, etc… I am waiting for someone to start the discussion of Anti-Complacency. Other than GM I have not heard much about it. It seems to me that maybe if you can run your scaled down business in its current state you should understand what mistakes you made (other than blaming tough economic conditions) and try to avoid them when you scale up again (if you do not go Out of Business, or maybe you should?).
Don’t get me wrong there are some innovative things happening but most of it is in the usual places. The companies and industries that traditionally drive innovation. I would like to see some shake up in broken places. Like the Car Dealer model mentioned above for example. If U.S. Automakers were closely tied to their consumers and their industry they would understand the change impacting what cars people want to buy and how people want to buy cars. Instead they ran into the second ice berg and now are scrambling to “re-invent”.
The reaction of “we need to do something now because the economy turned” is pretty weak. I propose that companies should focus on “Staying Ready, So they don’t have to Get Ready” when things change.
More on that later…
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About Coley
Coley Perry is a 15 year veteran of the sales and marketing grind. Most of his experience is in and around the intersection of sales, marketing, change management, technology and business process helping clients solve business problems through innovative solutions and consulting. He has built sales teams, go-to-market strategies, demand generation engines and sustainable revenue streams. Currently his passion is focused on the convergence of sales, marketing and technology. He wrote a lot of checks to Columbia College and Northwestern University but learned the most from The “Second City” Training Center in Chicago where he studied the Art of Improv.
