重新定义“创新”的时候到了

    虽然有很多案例研究和媒体专栏都信奉“创新”策略的重要性，但在现实生活中，很多企业依然在为创新而上下求索。这倒不是说它们拿不出足够多的新鲜点子，或者说缺乏有创造力的员工。事实上，管理者们可能会发现他们根本无法在公司现有的架构下实施创新，或者是分心于其他事情，特别是那些更合乎时宜（甚至可能带来盈利）的发明创造。

    除了内部因素，阻碍公司创新的还有很多宏观的外部因素，包括当前的欧洲经济困境、某些行业整体消亡或至少正在经历艰难的转型期（比如平面和电视媒体，还有投资银行）以及全球金融势力格局的变迁（比如，新兴市场、尤其是中国和印度的崛起）。

    但公司创新的最大难题可能还是必须不断重新审视“创新”理念本身，做到与时俱进。看看通用电气（GE）最近发布的全球创新晴雨表（Global Innovation Barometer），该项研究调查了全球22个国家近3,000名高管。92%的受访者表示，创新是“提高国民经济竞争力的重要组成部分”。86%的受访者称，在他们国家，“创新是创造就业岗位的最佳途径”。这些都不稀奇。然而，稀奇的是，另一个强有力的数据是88%的受访者表示，21世纪公司创新的方式将“完全不同于以往任何时候”。是的，这个结论听起来令人激动，但也让人气馁。创新的门槛更高了：在某个特定行业，创造出像“iPod”一样的革命性产品，然后效法苹果（Apple）倍受推崇、崇尚设计的道路，仅仅做到这些已经不够了。正如史蒂夫•乔布斯一直鼓励他的团队要做到的那样，公司必须“另辟蹊径”。

    当然，简单复制一家成功公司“另辟蹊径”的做法并不能确保会获得类似的成果。必须重新思考，对你而言，2012年的“另辟蹊径”到底意味着什么。贵公司的创新尝试真的能创造出独一无二的产品和服务吗？你有独创的人力资源政策留住最佳员工，同时招募、留住下一代的公司领路人吗？你的管理风格有助于界定（或者至少反映）21世纪第二个10年、而不是本世纪初已经过时的领导技巧吗？

    Despite the many case studies and op-eds you might read on the importance of "innovation" as a strategy, in real life many businesses are struggling to be innovative. It doesn't mean that they can't come up with enough new ideas or that they don't have creative people on staff. Instead, executives might find that they cannot implement innovation within their company's structure, or that they get bogged down by distractions that only seem to be taking them on the path to inventions that are timely--and potentially profitable.

    In addition, many of the barriers to corporate innovation are forces that are much bigger than internal ones. These hurdles range from the economic challenges in Europe; entire industries dying or at least experiencing troubling states of transition (print and television media, for example, or investment banking); and the shifts in global financial power that are taking place (the rise of China and India, among other "emerging" markets).

    But perhaps the biggest dilemma that businesses face when it comes to innovation is that the concept of "innovation" itself must be constantly re-thought to remain relevant. Look at GE's recently released Global Innovation Barometer, a global study that surveyed nearly 3,000 senior executives in 22 nations around the world. Ninety-two percent of respondents said innovation is "the main ingredient for a more competitive national economy" and 86 percent said that "innovation is the best way to create jobs" in their countries. Not surprising. But then another strong statistic emerges: Eighty-eight percent said that companies will innovate in ways that are "totally different than ever before" in the 21st century. Yes, this is an exciting, forward-thinking conclusion, but it is also a daunting one. The ante has been upped: no longer is it enough to want to create "the iPod" of a given industry and follow in Apple's much-admired, design-worshipping footsteps. Companies have to "think different," as Steve Jobs always encouraged his team to do.

    Of course, simply copying how a successful company does things "different," won't automatically ensure parallel results. You have to rethink what "think different" really means in 2012--for you. Are your company's innovation efforts really resulting in unique work? Do you have original human resources policies to retain your top performers and to recruit—and retain--the next generation of leaders? Will your own management style help define, or at least reflect, the winning business strategies of the 2010s, and not the outdated leadership tactics of the 2000s?