Innovate or Die.

Quite a dramatic statement and one that seems to be making many companies nervous because it's one thing to say it and another to actually accomplish it. A lot of companies likely think they don't need to innovate, because their product is low maintenance or has no technology or process attached. Yet innovation is as much about the people behind it as about the product and in some cases it's only about the people as they are the product.

Innovation is not about invention, it is about, " the successful exploitation of an idea that adds value to the customer and commercial return for the creator" according to innovation expert Cris Beswick. So it's not about coming up with a new invention but more about working with what you have, be it product or people and what your environment, business and surroundings provide, to improve and move forward successfully. The central meaning of innovation relates to renewal and for this to take place people and companies need to change the way they make decisions.

The recent list of the top 50 most innovative companies on the net had a top ten that included some major players with Apple at number 1, Groupon at number 5 and Netflix at number 8 to name a few. None of those companies have a worldwide patent on inventions. What they do have is people willing to fail, people willing to stretch their thinking and people who trust each other to work on the end game of success.

Innovation is going against the grain of common thinking and not being concerned about competition no matter what they say. Steve Ballmer in one of his keynotes once discussed the iPhone thus, "There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance."

Apple didn't invent the phone or the PC tablet, Groupon did not invent the shopping coupon and Netflix did not invent the video, DVD movie. Yet they all in their own way have made that space their own with innovation on ideas that existed that could be expanded upon with creative thinking and new technology.

Sure there are many technology companies on the innovation list but it's the non techo companies that have made the biggest leap of innovative faith because it is dependent on their people more so than the product. Companies like Trader Joes, Pepsico, Nissan and ESPN have succeeded with people as their innovative curve. That's because innovation comes when companies support people when they fail, whether that is on air with the sports banter of ESPN or in the grocery aisles of Trader Joes and Pepsico. It's about meeting in coffee shops and at the photocopier, chatting all hours of the night about an exciting idea and sometimes the occasional meeting called by someone who thinks he has the craziest idea ever and who wants to know what other people think of it.

In companies like Apple it also comes from saying no to hundreds of ideas and figuring out all your products can fit on a small coffee table and that's the way you like it. Just because a new niche market opens up for you, it doesn't always need to be filled by you. Innovate to stand out, not to take over.