Innovation or Expiration

Subtitled: Lead, Follow, or Get Out of the Way.

Complacency makes me want to stick a fork in my eye. To be so ambivalent or uncommitted, nay neutral on almost any topic simply defies my capacity for cogitation. I mean, what about “good” is good? Sure doesn’t smell like “great” from here. That’s where I want to be.  Always, on everything.

I realize I’m not the most objective person when it comes to determining corporate comfort zones. I readily admit that I’m a risk-taker (maybe that’s where “Activator” and “Futuristic” come into play, Tom Rath might suggest), that I can ask uncomfortable questions due to my natural curiosity for motivation and agenda. You must assess where you are, project where you want to be, and then smear the rubber on the road.   Others may be content to walk around the tutu-clad, dancing polka-dotted elephant wearing skates in the room. Not I. And there are few sectors I believe really, truly, need a measure of conservatism as a nod toward tradition, adherence to core belief systems, and maintenance of that all-important constituency. I imagine that attitudinal shifts within the Roman Catholic Church are a little slow to generate, but really, beyond that who has an excuse? Heck, it looks like even the papacy has a site!

And I’m not suggesting an all-out leave of your senses or abandonment of everything save for cursory evaluation points. What I believe is that thorough research and results synthesis plus educated, informed hypothesis, plus instinct equals one heck of a reason to buy a trial size.  Go ahead, plunk those coins down.

I mean seriously, I’ve worked with some folks who are just too darn scared to draw a line in the sand and jump over it. Chances are, there’s going to be sand there, too! Maybe better sand! Maybe whiter, finer, cleaner sand!

Executed properly, you can float a trial balloon without jeopardizing your brand or position.

If you’re a communications professional and don’t have the chutzpa to give an opportunity that just “feels” right a chance, I say you’ve lost out already. Sometimes it’s not about achieving absolute success. Sometimes it’s about who gets there first. Because if you get there first, you’re by default the de facto knowledge base holder. The expert. The one to watch. And those adjustments or reformulations you have to make now that all of the user testing has come back? Well that’s just cause for slapping an “Improved!” sticker on it and attributing it to valuable customer feedback channeled into the product development process. Gives you the customer-centric Bonus Points. Everyone who comes after you has to prove Reasonable Doubt, and that places the onus on them.

Competitive Advantage