Over at Jugaad Niti Bhan picks up on the BusinessWeek discussion and posts an insightful look at the backlash against innovation.

She makes the connection between the Gartner Hype Cycle – which, in itself, is very insightful – and the trend for media reporting about innovation. Niti makes the point that after all the hype about innovation, it is now falling into the ‘trough of disillusionment*’

She adds that now – in theory – innovation should start moving onto the Plateau of Productivity.

Recommended reading.

As an aside Niti also has a lovely quote about innovation cultures and the value of the ‘skunkworks’ type approach.

Kanter also advises managers to make sure there are no culture clashes between internal teams working on a company’s traditional products and its new, innovative experiments.

* I happen to like the Hype Cycle. Whether you love it or hate it, you just have to give credit to the creators for the names they use. I mean look at the terms : the ‘Trough of Disillusionment” almost needs a Jaws-like soundtrack to go with it. You could also use it in the next Lord of the Rings movie : “I’m buggered if I’m coming with you Frodo – it’s gonna take more than a magic ring to get me to cross the Trough of Disillusionment”…