????管理者往往將創(chuàng)新視為少數(shù)人的責(zé)任，把它交給穿著實(shí)驗(yàn)室白大褂的科研人員或善于打破慣性思維的營(yíng)銷(xiāo)人員,。事實(shí)絕非如此,。在當(dāng)今這個(gè)快速變革的世界中，創(chuàng)新能力應(yīng)體現(xiàn)在一家公司的各個(gè)部門(mén),。

????孤立的創(chuàng)新將損害公司競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力,。畢竟，全球化和通信技術(shù)快速發(fā)展導(dǎo)致產(chǎn)品生命周期縮短,，意味著競(jìng)爭(zhēng)優(yōu)勢(shì)存在的時(shí)間越來(lái)越短暫,。甚至連雅虎（Yahoo!）這樣的公司從萬(wàn)眾矚目到泯然眾人似乎只是一夜之間的事情。貫穿于整個(gè)公司的創(chuàng)新能力有助于公司改進(jìn)現(xiàn)有產(chǎn)品,、打造明日產(chǎn)品,。

????而且，需要改變的不只是企業(yè)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)方式,，還包括人們根本的工作方式,。想想Yammer （Twitter企業(yè)版）、WebEx等通信技術(shù)以及Campfire等協(xié)作工具的崛起,。似乎人們剛剛掌握一款新的工具,，更新的工具又冒出來(lái)了。全公司上下的創(chuàng)新能力有助于員工更輕松地使用,、適應(yīng)這些新的技術(shù),。

????蘋(píng)果（Apple）、亞馬遜（Amazon.com）等公司的基因中似乎就蘊(yùn)含著創(chuàng)新的因子,；寶潔（Procter & Gamble）,、通用電氣（General Electric）等其他公司已花費(fèi)了幾十年時(shí)間來(lái)培育支持創(chuàng)新的體系。如果你才剛剛開(kāi)始創(chuàng)新之旅,，不妨考慮下面三點(diǎn)建議,。

形成,、傳播“創(chuàng)新”的共同語(yǔ)言

????雖然創(chuàng)新討論往往帶有一些神秘色彩,，但事實(shí)上創(chuàng)新就是找到新的辦法來(lái)解決問(wèn)題,。但如果人們對(duì)創(chuàng)新的定義看法不同，就很難針對(duì)創(chuàng)新問(wèn)題展開(kāi)富有成效的討論,。同時(shí)也更難識(shí)別,、理解創(chuàng)新將面臨的挑戰(zhàn)和機(jī)遇，并做出回應(yīng),。

????下面這個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單的測(cè)試就可以測(cè)試出公司內(nèi)部是否缺乏創(chuàng)新的共同語(yǔ)言,。讓一群人寫(xiě)下并念出他們的創(chuàng)新定義。結(jié)果很可能千差萬(wàn)別,，而這可能導(dǎo)致混淆和挫敗感,。除了基礎(chǔ)定義，還可以詳細(xì)列明打算遵循的不同創(chuàng)新策略,。例如,，寶潔有四種不同的創(chuàng)新策略，涵蓋了從商業(yè)策略（即推動(dòng)現(xiàn)有產(chǎn)品的試用和使用營(yíng)銷(xiāo)及促銷(xiāo)方法）到顛覆性策略（及可能創(chuàng)造全新品類(lèi)的點(diǎn)子）的不同類(lèi)型,。精準(zhǔn)界定每項(xiàng)策略有助于明確創(chuàng)新的嘗試,。

????Leaders often perceive innovation as the province of the few, isolated to white-lab coat wearing research scientists or "out-of-the-box" thinking marketers. That's not right. In today's quickly changing world, innovation should be a corporate-wide capability.

????Isolating innovation hurts a company's ability to compete. After all, shrinking product life cycles driven by globalization and rapid advances in communications technologies means that competitive advantage is increasingly a transitory notion. Companies like Yahoo! (YHOO) go from darlings to also-rans seemingly overnight. Widespread innovation capabilities improve a company's ability to incrementally improve today's offerings and create tomorrow's offerings.

????Further, it isn't just the way in which companies compete that needs to change; it is the way in which people fundamentally do their work. Think about the rise of communications technologies such as Yammer (the corporate equivalent of Twitter) and WebEx or collaboration tools like Campfire. It seems as soon as you master a new tool, a new one starts to emerge. A corporate-wide innovation capability helps an organization's employees more readily adopt and adapt to these new technologies.

????Companies like Apple (AAPL) and Amazon.com (AMZN) seem to have innovation in their DNA; others like Procter & Gamble (PG) and General Electric (GE) have spent decades developing systems to support innovation. If you are just starting your innovation journey, consider the following three tips.

Forming and spreading a common language of innovation.

????While innovation discussions often carry mystical tones, innovation is really nothing more than finding new ways to solve problems. But when people define innovation differently, it inhibits an organization's ability to have productive discussions on the topic. And makes it more difficult to identify, understand, and respond to innovation challenges -- or opportunities.

????Here's a simple test to determine if your organization is lacking a common language. Ask a group of people to write down and read out their definition of innovation. Odds are there are material differences in the definitions, which can lead to confusion and frustration. Beyond a basic definition, consider detailing the different types of innovation strategies you plan to follow. For example, P&G has four distinct types of innovation strategies, ranging from commercial (marketing and promotion methods to drive trial and use of existing offerings) to disruptive (ideas that have the potential to create entirely new categories). Precise definitions of each strategy help bring clarity to innovation efforts.