Innovation may be somewhat of a buzzword in business and the entrepreneurial community, but it is important to understand its meaning. Innovation is a new product, idea, technique, or anything else, so long as it is a creative action and able to be monetized. Innovation is crucial for any business, whether new products or services, better production processes, or new marketing and sales channels. Innovation is going to come in the form of new products, new services, new business models, or new customer experiences.

Simply put, innovation does not just happen on its own, it needs to be accelerated, or you, the entrepreneur, will need to be accelerated within your own business. This sounds depressing, but as an innovator, you are doing a lot better than that, where your innovations are actually needed by upper management in order to get the company to continue down its path of growth. The challenge for many companies is connecting operating excellence to innovation excellence in a timely manner.

The new CBS Corporation that we are has already been the reality, and this energized spirit of both excellence and innovation will continue to deliver value for shareholders in years to come. The Companys fast pace of change and innovative approach to emerging business opportunities can be seen in the numerous strategic announcements we have made in recent months. As an innovator, you are constantly adjusting your existing offerings and coming up with entirely new concepts.

Innovation sets the stage for continued growth, by providing new solutions to customers and prospects. Perhaps more importantly, it builds excitement among your employees, increasing both their satisfaction with their work and morale. Innovation requires an innovation culture -- a culture embraced by people at the top, and infused throughout your entire organization.

Business innovation can help fuel the success of a business, and in order for a company to innovate, it must have the mindset and processes that enable it to truly open up to new ideas. With the knowledge of what innovation and creativity are, one should be convinced that they are essential for starting a good business.

I believe that creativity is the individual developing and conceptualizing, and innovation, in an organizational sense, is implementing ideas and intentions derived from this creativity. In some ways, creativity is more of a leadership function, while innovation is more of a management function. My personal goal is to spur innovation, making it less difficult, so that you, your colleagues, and/or clients can innovate themselves.

Excellence should be achieved in the eyes of those that will judge us; once achieved, it can only be maintained with continuous innovation. Those who begin the change have a better chance of managing the changes which are inevitable--William Pollard Because we live in a time of innovation, a practical education should prepare the person for jobs which are yet uncreated, which cannot yet be defined with clarity--Peter Drucker. Entrepreneurs need to look deliberately to sources of innovation, changes, and the symptoms that they display, which point out opportunities for successful innovation.

Consider this because innovation is going to be one of the first activities killed by a cost-cutting program. Many companies think that innovation is good to have, though will be reluctant to state it explicitly.

I truly believe the one hardest thing to accomplish in business is building a business that does iterative innovation...and simply having that ongoing culture of excellence while growing. Innovation is the process of taking ideas into a form that is both viable to produce and viable to sell--Watts Humphrey. Just as energy is the foundation for life itself, ideas are the origins of innovation, innovation is also the vital spark for all human change, improvement, and progress - Ted Levitt.