Mile Zero Logo
Want to Sound Smart? Stop Saying ‘Innovation.’

Want to Sound Smart? Stop Saying ‘Innovation.’

by | Jan 2, 2024 | Innovation

“You sound stupid when you use the word ‘_____________’ because you’re trying to sound smart.”

Mark Cuban

What goes in the blank?

For Mark Cuban, it’s “cohort” because “there’s no reason to ever use the word ‘cohort’ when you could use the word ‘group.’  A cohort is a group of people.  Say ‘group.’ Always use the simpler word.”

For one of my former bosses, it was “breakthrough.”  He would throw you out of the room if you used that word.  Not physically throw you out, but he was a big guy and could if you didn’t exit on your own.

For me, it’s “disrupt” (and all its forms) because applies (as originally intended by Clayton Christensen) in only about 0.1% of the instances in which it’s used.

There are other candidates.

Lots of other candidates.

In fact, I would go so far as to propose the biggest buzzword of them all: INNOVATION.

“Innovation” does not make you sound smart.

Here is a very short list of the most commonly heard statements about innovation.

  • Innovation is a priority.
  • Innovation is key to our growth.
  • We need to be more innovative.
  • We want to build/are committed to building a culture of innovation
  • Let’s innovate!

What do these statements even mean?

  • It’s great that innovation is a priority and key to our growth.  Hasn’t that always been the case?  What is changing? How is that translating into action? What do you expect from me?
  • Agree we should be more innovative.  How? What does “more innovative” look like?
  • Definitely want to be part of a culture of innovation.  What does that mean?  How is that different than our current culture?  What changes? How do we make sure the changes stick?
  • Sigh. Eye roll.

Saying what you mean makes you sound smart.

Always use the simpler word, and, in the case of innovation, there is always a simpler word or phrase.  Consider:

  • Grow revenue from our existing businesses
  • Create new revenue streams
  • Grow profit in our existing businesses
  • Grow profit by launching new high-profit businesses
  • Stay ahead of the competition
  • Create a new category
  • Launch a new product
  • Better serve our current customers
  • Serve new customers
  • Update/extend our current products
  • Increase the effectiveness of our marketing spend
  • Revise our business model to reflect changing consumer and customer expectations
  • Launch a low-cost and good-enough offering that appeals to non-consumers

You sound smart when you use the word(s) that most clearly, concisely, and unambiguously communicate your idea or intention.  “Innovation” does not do that.

Saying “innovation” AND what you mean makes you sound wicked smaht

“Innovation” on its own is lazy.  Simpler words and phrases aren’t nearly as sexy (I can’t imagine Fast Company coming out with “The World’s Best Companies at Creating New Revenue Streams” list).

But when you put them together – smart and sexy:

  • Innovation is a priority.  As a result, we are committing a minimum of $50M a year for the next five years to…
  • Innovation is key to growth.  As a result, we are doubling our investment in…
  • We need to be more innovative.  To achieve this, we are changing how we measure and incentivize executive performance to encourage long-term investments.
  • We want to build a culture of innovation.  As a first step in this process, we are making Kickbox available to any interested employee.
  • Let’s Innovate (Nope, don’t say this.  It’s too cheesy)

Say what you mean. 

If you don’t, people will think you don’t mean what you say.

What other words would you add to this rant?

The Status Quo is an Assumption (A Lesson Learned from Yogurt)

The Status Quo is an Assumption (A Lesson Learned from Yogurt)

by | Dec 10, 2023 | Innovation, Leadership, Stories & Examples

In September 2006, I moved to Copenhagen, Denmark, on a temporary assignment with BCG.  As one does when arriving somewhere for an extended period, I went to the grocery store to stock my kitchen. 

Since the grocery store was on the ground floor of my building, I bought enough food for a few breakfasts and dinners, made note of the other offerings for future trips, and learned through painful public embarrassment that one must purchase grocery bags (and those bags are nowhere near the checkout lane).

The following day, yogurt was on the menu, and I grabbed the first of the three options I had bought the previous day – a small container of strawberry yogurt.

My heart sank when I peeled off the top.

Instead of super healthy, organic, natural (I’m in Scandinavia, for crying out loud!) yogurt, the stuff in my cup was a rather suspicious beige with dark brown flecks.

Stifling my instinct to dry heave, I chucked the cup into the garbage, along with the five other cups in the clearly spoiled pack, and pulled Brand #2 out of the refrigerator.  Surely, this strawberry yogurt would be safe to eat.

But it, too, was beige.  A lighter beiger and without the disturbing brown flecks.  But still beige.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered.  Admittedly, the grocery store was more of a glorified convenience store, but c’mon, how hard is it to keep track of Sell By dates?

Into the garbage, it went.  Out of the refrigerator came Brand #3 (Yes, I take a portfolio approach to innovation AND food purchases)

Closing my eyes and saying a quick prayer to both the grocery and yogurt gods, I peeled open the yogurt. Not beige but a slight hint of pink, just enough to reassure me that it contained strawberries and hadn’t curdled but not so much that I suspected an American-amount of food coloring.

Later that day…

At lunch, my new colleagues asked how I was settling in.  I regaled them with my “bumbling American experiencing culture shock in a country where she looks (and is initially treated like) a local” stories. 

As we gathered up our dishes and returned to the kitchen, I commented that I was surprised that my local grocery would keep expired products on the shelf.  When they echoed my surprise, I told them about the spoiled yogurt and that 2 of the three brands I purchased were bad.

Based on the glances they exchanged, I knew I had another story to add to an already uncomfortably full book.

It turns out that. The “good” yogurt I ate that morning was from the lowest quality brand, one that no self-respecting Dane would consider eating but that is sold to unsuspecting foreigners (Hi, that’s me).  The “bad” yogurt was from respected all-natural brands.  All yogurt, they explained, falls somewhere in the spectrum from white to beige or even tan. That’s why they print the flavor name and a picture of the fruit on the label.

How often do we make the same mistake?

How often do we reject something because it’s not what we expect to see?  Because it’s not what we’re used to?

Maybe not often when it comes to yogurt, but what about other more important things, like:

  • Trends
  • Technologies
  • Ideas
  • Business Models
  • Startups
  • People

And what happens when we don’t have people willing to point out that we’re no longer in a place where our status quo applies?