OVERVIEW

We all have an intuitive sense that innovation is important. We know it must be a contributor to the success we collectively trumpet, but how much? Where does it come into the picture? Is innovation just for product companies? Is it just for great musical composers? Architects? How about the trucking firm working on improving on-time delivery while lowering fleet fuel costs? How about a regional airline working on an initial public offering (IPO)? How about a computer manufacturer working on a long-life laptop battery? Does it relate to new products, things we touch, or does it relate to processes that get new products or services to the market faster and at a higher level of initial quality?

Do any of these situations "need" innovation? Do they all? If so, at what point do they "innovate"? Is the innovation a predetermined act, a subject of the will, or is it something much more complex, such as a subconscious eruption of successful thought?

In this text, we ask and answer these questions: What is innovation? Is it an action (verb, i.e., to innovate) or a thing (noun)? Who is it for? When do you use it, and how?

"Wow!" I exclaimed to the sleeping woman next to me on the plane. She did not respond to the tired-looking man with the outdated laptop. There it was, right in front of me on that...