Recently, CIO.com ran an article I wrote under the title “Fostering Innovation Culture in an Unpredictable Economy.” Peter-Anthony Glick posted some nice commentary on the piece. In his post, Peter-Anthony questioned the use of the phrase “Unpredictable Economy,” asserting that no economy is predictable. On the chance that other may have been confused by this, I’d just like to clarify the intent of the title.
We are currently in a particular volatile economic climate. This volatility is what I was characterizing as unpredictability. Why is this notion important? It is important because many companies will make a critical error in the near future. As the economic uncertainty continues, these companies will react by slashing budgets as a way to protect against the possibility of the losses that come with missed revenue attainment. While this is not in and of itself a mistake, what is a mistake is to decimate the investment in product innovation in a down market.
Difficult markets create opportunities for the companies that are ready and willing to invest in taking advantage of the opportunity. For many companies, this means moving forward with innovation agendas and building a sustainable innovation culture. I hope that help eliminate any confusion about my choice of words.
Yep James, that does clarify it for me. Thanks.
And I also agree with the increasing importance of the volatility issue and with the nessecity for companies to invest in innovation with a long term focus, not over-reacting to short-term market pressures. This is particularly critical when investing in people.
Peter
Posted by: Peter-Anthony Glick | March 27, 2008 at 01:53 PM