Open for Innovation?

Innovation for the sake of doing something different is a waste of resources and capital...both financial and human. With one caveat: sometimes doing something different is part of a larger corporate culture initiative, and then often the point simply is to do the different thing, not to drive a specific response from it.

However, in most cases, retail is careful and cautious in assessing innovation. Too often, the "downside" is measured and the "upside" is discounted. What if it doesn't work? What if the provider goes out of business? What if status quo (as mediocre as it was) would have been better?

And these are as detrimental to a business as "let's do it"! without careful consideration and balance. The real goal is to have a process in place, complete with resources and attention, to test innovation and place the organization in a position to take advantage of that test.

Does your company test innovations? Take a look at the IT plan for the coming twelve months. How many elements are set aside for testing projects or concepts with scale and leverage potential?