Reconsidering Innovations in Innovation

In the morning-after retrospective, as everyone sobered and surveyed the post-innovation wreckage around them, the mantra of “Innovate or die!” seemed a worn and unwelcome cliché. At business conferences and board meetings, innovation—at least anything beyond incremental change—became a hushed topic. Instead, it was back to the real business of business: retrenching and restructuring, focus and efficiency, watching cash and waiting for clear signals from the marketplace. The deliberative, suit-and-tie Organization Man was back in vogue. The frenetic and disheveled Silicon Valley dream merchant was disdainfully out of style.

Of course, the innovation enthusiasts had been at least partly right with their cry of “Innovate or die!” Especially in fast and dramatically changing business environments, failure to adapt definitely might threaten a company’s continued success or even survival. But these one-sided cries ignored the other half of the delicately balanced innovation equation. Both “innovate and die” and “innovate or die” are very real risks. Deftly managing this precarious balance is critical. This is the key dilemma—and the core challenge—of innovation.