I was sitting with one of my manufacturing partners the other day discussing our mutually shared technology market. The topic on the table was one that often comes up between companies who build a better mousetrap and the company who sells said mousetrap (there were no mice harmed in the making of this story). The question of the day, “Why are companies in our region so hesitant to innovate?” Having been in this industry for over 20 years, I have heard that assertion more times than I can count. My response has always been the same, “Just because you built a better mouse trap, doesn’t mean the world needs one.” This debate tends to go one of two ways after this response. Either the manufacturer sits back to ponder their very existence, or they respond with confidence, “If you don’t innovate, you die.” Well then, if that isn’t an interesting topic of debate, I’m not sure what is.

Innovation is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot. It isn’t industry specific. How may times have we heard statements such as, “a musician needs to innovate to stay relevant,” or “that restaurant failed to innovate, so they are going out of business.” As I’m sitting here at my desk writing this editorial, I’m listening to one of my staff discuss with a peer how badly his client wants to innovate this month. There is a side of me that instantly gets excited because “innovation” in our world means a customer has budget and they want to spend it with us. Sadly, the other side of me, the one that tends to question the motivations behind every action, steps in. The roots are very deep. I need to understand the why before I can support the budget spend. Ay, there’s the rub.

What is innovation? I think it is important to look at the word itself; the action of innovating. The foundation comes from the Latin word innovate; to renew or alter. For me, innovation denotes creativity and imagination in the process of looking for new solutions to either an age-old problem or perhaps something we’ve recently discovered. Today, innovation gets commonly linked to technology. You only need to look at the pace of change in the cell phone industry to see how out of control technology innovation has become. As manufacturers race to solve problems that most of us didn’t know we had, there is something that inevitably gets lost in the conversation; why do we need it? My feeling is that it is human nature for us to remain in state of renewal. Many of us will never quite be satisfied with the mouse trap we have.

Before we go down a behavioral science rabbit hole that we’ll likely never come out of, let’s refocus on the discussion at hand; innovate, or not innovate? Although it is important to understand why we feel the need to change, the question I feel most of us are better suited to answer is why a change is needed in the first place. Has our mouse problem gotten out of hand? Is our current mouse trap not meeting our needs? Have our company values on mouse traps changed? Is there a mouse trap that suits our needs? Has the latest season of Alone changed the social norm of mice as a food source? So many questions, so little time. You can start to see how complex the conversation can get if you truly care enough to build the proper foundation for change and innovation. Is it time to ask whether or not we should start that complex conversation?

Let’s be honest, so many of us see the commercials for the new mousetrap 10xand we can’t wait to stand in the rain, in a long line, to buy one. The mousetrap 9z we bought less than 8 months ago actually still works great, but your neighbour across the hall has been making fun of you. We can’t let her do that. Let’s go spend a thousand bucks to show her how cool we are. In our personal lives, innovation for no good reason doesn’t come with a lot of risk. Things start to get real when you think about the same scenario in our work lives. For example, a buddy of mine was at a technology conference last week. He saw the most incredible mousetrap he’s ever seen. It was Bluetooth enabled! As the CIO of a large chain of hotels, he could absolutely see how this new innovation would make a difference. The salesperson at the booth let it slip that his competitor Mary now owned Bluetooth enabled mousetraps and she had a competitive edge on him and his company. Just like magic, my buddy has me on speed dial to set-up a call to sell him as many of these new mousetraps as possible. Like I mentioned earlier, there is a side of me that loves this phone call. Just think of how many Bluetooth mouse traps I can buy once my good friend buys all his. I might actually wait until the mousetrap 12z comes out. I hear it will actually teleport the mice somewhere nice and safe, far, far away from my office.

The scenario sound ridiculous, but I know that most of you aren’t laughing. For the lack of a better term, this shit is real. I meet with clients and partners every single day who fall somewhere along the spectrum of this same scenario. At one end, my team is brought in well advance of budget being spent to discuss why innovation is on the table. At the other end, my team has been brought in to discuss removing an innovation that came in late, over budget, barely adopted, and failed to solve any tangible business issue. All of us have either experienced this, or even worse, been the person who actively participated in unleashing this within an organization. Innovation is great, but if it costs you your job because you didn’t need it in the first place, what was the point?

Back at the lunchroom table, debating with my partner about why companies in our region are slow to innovate, I can’t help but ask myself why businesses in other regions are quick to innovate? Do they not ask themselves some of the key questions raised above? Do they have smarter, faster, better resources who can answer all the important questions before budget is spent? Do they have more money to waste? Do they not care about risk? I wonder whether these are even the right questions to ask. Isn’t this an example of another human trait; our inability to look in the mirror and realize that we’re the problem. As mousetrap manufacturers, shouldn’t we focus on why we started building mousetraps in the first place? As mousetrap resellers, shouldn’t we remember why we’re different than the reseller across the street? Maybe our customers are tired of feeling like the outcome of their innovation is our ability to afford a new mousetrap.

To innovate, or not innovate. I look forward to discussing this topic further with all of you.