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> The word innovation has become a buzzword routinely used to describe things that are new, shiny, feature-rich, and, in some cases, breakthrough. Word-inflati

> The word innovation has become a buzzword routinely used to describe things that are new, shiny, feature-rich, and, in some cases, breakthrough. Word-inflation is real. Here at Purdue, a new building on campus is called the Innovation Design Center[0], which I find insultingly presumptuous. Next thing you know Panda Express will call itself gourmet dining. Oh wait, they already do[1]. What I find interesting is the company uses that word in graphics but I never see it on official, indexed text on their site. It's like they're trying to fly under the radar with subliminally audacious advertising by minimizing the paper-trail. But maybe that's overly paranoid, because it looks like they also have an Innovation Kitchen[2]. Is there a term for words that only really make sense retrospectively or maybe should be prefixed by "trying to" in the present tense? Someone ~trying to be~ an innovator/ entrepreneur. [0] https://www.purdue.edu/bidc/ https://www.purdue.edu/bidc/ [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda_Express#/media/File:Panda_Express_logo.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda_Express#/media/File:Pand... [2] https://www.pandaexpress.com/innovationkitchen https://www.pandaexpress.com/innovationkitchen

heyjudy 8y ago
That word is wantrepreneur. IIRC Mark Cuban used it and I've heard it before because there are a lot of Gold Rush types who flock to Silicon Valley who talk a lot but don't walk-the-walk of hack or hustle very much. I like to see that people are serious: coding or working all night, after their day job, quit to work with a coworker, or deploying a new feature while at airport layover between flights.. not just BSing at a bar or coffeeshop about their great "idea" they haven't tried to make or sell in the real world. The world doesn't need anymore "idea guys/gals," it needs more people trying things and being unreasonably motivated and unsatisfied with the world as-is... and comfortable with discomfort to keep learning from mistakes. It, and most bizword mission statements, boil down to honesty of effort and self-description labels. And I'm not a "hacker" and I'm not an "entrepreneur," because those are too bold and too easy to claim without widely-known genuine, unforgeable signals.
jacobolus 8y ago
You are putting the word “innovation” on a pedestal. There is no clearly defined threshold above which a new application of a product, process, or idea must pass before it can be called “innovative”, and how innovative something is depends strongly on context. What seems like a triviality to one person might well be an innovation to someone else. There are many places and contexts where people are doing incredibly stupid or inefficient things, and the application of simple centuries-old or apparently obvious ideas might well qualify as “innovation”. For example, consistently using paper checklists in a hospital has a huge impact. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/12/10/the-checklist https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/12/10/the-checklist
- truth_be_told 8y ago
  Excellent Article! The "Genius" of "Simplicity" exemplified.
jdietrich 8y ago
Frankly, I've become very wary of "real" innovation, the kind of "disruptive" innovation that the VCs chase after. All too often, that kind of innovation involves my data being winkled out of me and sold to the highest bidder. It involves some schlub working for minimum wage with no benefits and no job security. It involves a diverse and competitive industry being obliterated by one or two dot-com behemoths. It involves one thing becoming more efficient, at the expense of thousands of lives becoming less autonomous. Innovation has always had externalities and unexpected downsides, but never in my lifetime has it felt so overtly predatory. It seems like the robber barons of the 19th century have returned, only this time they wear branded hoodies and give TED talks. One of those robber barons literally argues that monopolies are good for society.
ssss11 8y ago
> Is there a term for words that only really make sense retrospectively or maybe should be prefixed by "trying to" in the present tense? “Aspirational” comes to mind
pesmhey 8y ago
Affectation.
- late2part 8y ago
  Bloviation perhaps.
trhway 8y ago
>But maybe that's overly paranoid, because it looks like they also have an Innovation Kitchen[2]. our BigCo has Innovation everything and everywhere. Recently we were trained on the process of creating and managing innovation - looks like a bastard chimeric child of Agile/Scrum and Six Sigma (no innovation here though :). And it seems like our marketing&sales is on verge of starting to sell pure innovation to customers who are already primed up by the current high-tech innovation hype-mania.

heyjudy 8y ago

That word is wantrepreneur. IIRC Mark Cuban used it and I've heard it before because there are a lot of Gold Rush types who flock to Silicon Valley who talk a lot but don't walk-the-walk of hack or hustle very much. I like to see that people are serious: coding or working all night, after their day job, quit to work with a coworker, or deploying a new feature while at airport layover between flights.. not just BSing at a bar or coffeeshop about their great "idea" they haven't tried to make or sell in the real world. The world doesn't need anymore "idea guys/gals," it needs more people trying things and being unreasonably motivated and unsatisfied with the world as-is... and comfortable with discomfort to keep learning from mistakes. It, and most bizword mission statements, boil down to honesty of effort and self-description labels. And I'm not a "hacker" and I'm not an "entrepreneur," because those are too bold and too easy to claim without widely-known genuine, unforgeable signals.

jacobolus 8y ago

You are putting the word “innovation” on a pedestal. There is no clearly defined threshold above which a new application of a product, process, or idea must pass before it can be called “innovative”, and how innovative something is depends strongly on context. What seems like a triviality to one person might well be an innovation to someone else. There are many places and contexts where people are doing incredibly stupid or inefficient things, and the application of simple centuries-old or apparently obvious ideas might well qualify as “innovation”. For example, consistently using paper checklists in a hospital has a huge impact. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/12/10/the-checklist https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/12/10/the-checklist

truth_be_told 8y ago
Excellent Article! The "Genius" of "Simplicity" exemplified.

jdietrich 8y ago

Frankly, I've become very wary of "real" innovation, the kind of "disruptive" innovation that the VCs chase after. All too often, that kind of innovation involves my data being winkled out of me and sold to the highest bidder. It involves some schlub working for minimum wage with no benefits and no job security. It involves a diverse and competitive industry being obliterated by one or two dot-com behemoths. It involves one thing becoming more efficient, at the expense of thousands of lives becoming less autonomous. Innovation has always had externalities and unexpected downsides, but never in my lifetime has it felt so overtly predatory. It seems like the robber barons of the 19th century have returned, only this time they wear branded hoodies and give TED talks. One of those robber barons literally argues that monopolies are good for society.

ssss11 8y ago

> Is there a term for words that only really make sense retrospectively or maybe should be prefixed by "trying to" in the present tense? “Aspirational” comes to mind

pesmhey 8y ago

Affectation.

late2part 8y ago
Bloviation perhaps.

trhway 8y ago

>But maybe that's overly paranoid, because it looks like they also have an Innovation Kitchen[2]. our BigCo has Innovation everything and everywhere. Recently we were trained on the process of creating and managing innovation - looks like a bastard chimeric child of Agile/Scrum and Six Sigma (no innovation here though :). And it seems like our marketing&sales is on verge of starting to sell pure innovation to customers who are already primed up by the current high-tech innovation hype-mania.