Chapter 5. Innovation

In the last chapter we talked about how a focus on quality alone couldn't help an organization indefinitely. A focus on productivity, constantly unfreezing to release talent and resources, enables us to concentrate on the true driver of growth—innovation.

Historically, people have thought of innovation as being expensive, time consuming, and risky. We do it because if you innovate successfully, you get an opportunity to differentiate and create separation. When that happens, you have a period where margins and profit are high.

Carl Schramm believes the question of innovation is central to getting out of a recession. He chaired the U.S. Department of Commerce's Committee on Measuring Innovation in the American Economy. One of ...

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