image via http://www.cs.cmu.edu

There is always a fair amount of conversation surrounding innovation in business.  It’s one of those curious words that people are familiar with but don’t really grasp.  I felt this way, so I did what I often do and stepped back to look at the origins of the word and its definitions:

innovate 1548, from L. innovatus, pp. of innovare “to renew or change,” from in- “into” + novus “new.”
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

in·no·vate

1. to introduce (something new) for or as if for the first time: to innovate a computer operating system.
2. Archaic. to alter.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.

Now,  when innovation is typically referred to in a business setting, it generally implies something completely new, revolutionary, or groundbreaking.

Does it need to be?

I’d like to focus on the origins of the word – from the perspective of renewal or altering – instead of focusing on bright shiny objects we typically bill as innovative (FourSquare, your new Social CRM, iPad, Twitter, Sales Force Automation tools, Facebook fanpages, etc).

Let’s focus first on renewing and altering our foundations.  Redesign or “innovate” organizations not only from a tool perspective but from a people perspective.

I’ll leave you with a great talk by Roger Martin surrounding the concept of Design Thinking.  I recommend listening to this (and reading his book) and hope it inspires you as it did me.