Innovate Like Edison: We’re In The Innovation Age Now by Sarah Miller Caldicott:

(View entire post here)

For the last decade or so, the U.S. - like the rest of the developed world - has been transitioning out of the Industrial Age and into the Information Age. Actually, I think our present era might more appropriately be called the Innovation Age. An innovation mindset is now a must-have for every individual, organization, and entrepreneur alike.

Thomas Edison lights the way on how we can all begin to "think like innovators" today. Edison used his "Five Competencies of Innovation" to train employees to think like innovators all the time, regardless of whether they worked in one of his storied labs or in an Edison manufacturing operation. He sustained an innovation-driven culture that allowed everyone to use their best thinking every day.

This is where Innovation is heading now...it's moving out of isolated "silo's" in companies to the hallways and the aisles of every organization.

We've seen this pattern before. In the 70's..."Quality" was something only a handful of people were responsible for. Even in large organizations, there were only a select few who could stop the production line. Then, in the 80's, Quality became everyone's responsibility.

The same was true for "Customer Service" in the 80's. Back then, Customer Service was the bailiwick of only an isolated group of folks sprinkled throughout a company. Then in the 90's, Customer Service got pushed across all levels of an organization. Today, you don't hear employees saying, "That's not my department..." in response to customers' questions.

This is where Innovation is today. No longer is Innovation "only" the mission of the R&D group, or the software engineers, or the Marketing department. It's now mission-critical that everyone "think like an innovator." Edison's Five Competencies of Innovation show us how we can all get into the innovation game, and help American maintain leadership in the Innovation Age.