Innovation has become such a buzzword that I almost do not want to write this post.
Daniel Isenberg at Babson has a quote that is helpful:
"The true enemy of growth for firms is stagnation, and the reality is that most small businesses are stagnant....
One way to combat stagnation is through innovation. What many do not realize is that there are at least three types of innovation, that each type has a specific use and that different levels of management have responsibility for each one.
Grounded Ideas provide the incremental improvements that bring about best practices and excellence in operations. These responsibilities can be delegated to managers.
Blue Sky Ideas are insights that bring about revenue growth through tactical and strategic insights. They are a C-level responsibility.
Spaced Out Ideas are insights that create new business concepts by re-framing a problem. They are a C-level responsibility, but after you have found product/market fit the C-level execs are better served to focus on blue sky ideas. (Christensen's disruptive innovation is in this category.)
More of the over 20 posts on innovation and disruptive innovation: