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The same story again and again…

They invent and others run with the idea and make money.

The latest is Nokia. They had it in the late 90s, a tablet, just like iPad and they had a smart phone to go with it. Seven years before iPhone they had a concept touch screen phone with a single home button at the bottom. And yet… Only if… “Of all the words the saddest…”   All revealed by Frank Nuove then Nokia’s chief designer in an interview with WSJ yesterday.

Like Kodak, like Xerox (mouse and GUI)…

And everybody talks about how important innovation is. Methinks they spend millions on invention, not innovation. The CEOs and executives all know the text book definition of innovation: “Invention that becomes commercialized.”  Seems they all pay lip service to the definition and think no further than invention.  Invention alone won’t bring you anywhere. Why this talk, talk, talk, of innovation and when push comes to shove there is no will to commercialize your own inventions?

Maybe we should stop talking of innovation – quite clearly there are enough inventions lying around and begin focusing on bringing to market and making money from what there is.

Or does the problem go deeper? Perhaps our obsession with consultative leadership and management leads to ” too many cooks spoil the broth.” Perhaps you do need strong-willed leaders like Jobs – even tough thoroughly unpleasant at times – to override corporate fiefdoms. Perhaps, just perhaps we have sunk into politically correct corporate thinking and forgetting that the real world is not such a kind democratic, touchy feel place as gurus would want us to believe.