The term “innovation” is
tossed around so often that
it’s begun to lose its luster.
The truth is that no organization can survive in today’s economy without being innovative in
some way. If you can’t differentiate your company from the
competition, you won’t just lose
the current battle for customers,
sales and profits; you’ll probably
lose the entire war.
In a lot of ways, driving innovation within an organization is
similar to the art of writing. You
can’t force it or you get a litany
of poorly thought out nonsense.
Innovative ideas, like the perfect
turn of phrase, occur after deep
thought, sound reflection and
asking “what if” questions.
Ellis Yan, one of this month’s
cover story subjects and founder of TCP Inc.,
sums up innovation
when he says, “Just
pay attention.”
TCP is on the cutting edge because
Yan keeps his eyes
wide open to see
what’s happening
around him then
invests ample time to
consider how what he finds
might be applied to his business.
Invacare Corp.’s longtime
CEO A. Malachi Mixon, also featured this month, offers a different take. One way he innovates
is by seeking out disruptive
ideas that completely change
the way people live and work.
Later this month, Mixon and
Yan will join David Strand, chief
operating officer and chief emerging businesses
officer of The
Cleveland Clinic,
and Bharat Desai,
founder, president
and CEO of Detroit-based IT firm Syntel
Inc., for a panel discussion at Smart
Business’ annual
Innovation in
Business Conference.
This year marks the 10th
anniversary of the conference
as well as our 10th year working
with Anthem Blue Cross and
Blue Shield of Ohio as the program’s title sponsor.
Our 2008 theme is doing business in the global economy, and
the panelists will discuss how
their respective organizations
use innovation to succeed on the world stage. Additionally,
we’ll honor 10 Northeast Ohio
organizations and their leaders
for their commitment to innovative management techniques
and developing cutting-edge
products and services.
All 14 of these leaders and
their organizations are profiled
in a special pull-out section in
this month’s edition. As you
read their stories and reflect on
their ideas with your own eyes
wide open, you should start to
notice the sheen reappearing on
the idea of innovation. And
odds are, that sheen will be
gleaming even brighter than
before.
Contact Editor Dustin Klein at
[email protected]
