Tired words: Innovation

Yes, I am a cranky bastard. And my prerogative is to get tired of hearing certain words said over and over again.

I’ve been keeping track for some time and have finally decided to make the list public. And, to be more transparent in my thinking, I have also tried to convey the ‘why’.

I’ll be posting these as they come (I have a list, so expect a bunch from the start). They’ll be listed under the ‘Tired‘ category, if you want to see any of the others.

Here’s my first one:

Innovation – My first word on this list, and the one that has bugged me the longest. Odd, coming from a person who just spent the last 3 years deep in the venturing arm of Nokia. I actually credit Carly Fiorina and a talk she gave a Nokia Mobility Conference a few years back when she mentioned ‘innovation’ so many times it started grating my ears.

Face it, innovation is one of those thing you can’t make true by repeating it. Like authentic brands (oh! two more candidates for this list) it is something that you or your company already have within you. As the Oracle would say, ‘It’s like falling in love – balls to bones, you know it.’