Fast Company’s Innovation Scorecard
There are a few newspapers and magazines that I anxiously await and immediately devour as soon as they arrive. This often keeps me reading late into the night, but its usually worth it. Fast Company is one of those magazines, and last night was one of those nights.
The December, 2004 issue arrived yesterday, and I read it cover to cover last night. The entire issue is dedicated to creativity and innovation, which are dominant themes of Fast Company in general. This particular issue is jam-packed with articles directly focused on these topics.
My favorite is the Innovation Scorecard. In this article, FC and the Monitor Group analyzed the telecommunications/networking equipment industry in an attempt to quantify corporate innovation efforts, and hand out grades. The analysis assessed public companies in the industry, looking at how they fared over the last five years, a preview of the next five years, how the companies invested in research and development, and current growth expectations. Lastly, the analysis asked this question of each company — what is its capacity for innovation? As the author states:
"It’s one thing to have built a better mousetrap and another to have a new trap in the works. But the true measure of a company’s innovation is less about wood, wire, and cheese than it is about culture. It is difficult to institutionalize innovation. The notion of assigning order to a chaotic process seems contradictory."
The article gives a brief insight into a few of the companies that scored well (I’m not going to name any names), including a snippet on the innovation process at these companies. If you enjoy reading about how leading companies innovate, this article alone is worth the cover price.
The best part, though, is that FC is making the Innovation Scorecard a regular feature. FC promises an analysis of a different industry every three months, ensuring many more late nights for me in the future…
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