"We didn't lose the game, we just ran out of time." - Vince Lombardi

Many of you may not be aware that I live in a suburb of Green Bay, Wisconsin.  Last night's overtime loss to the New York Football Giants was heart-breaking.  But, for some reason, I don't feel terrible today.  I feel as though we (in Green Bay...its "we") played above our level all season based on an unselfish dedication to excellence.  The 2007/2008 Green Bay Packers were a team devoted to having fun, learning together, finding new ways to win, and enjoying the bliss of youthful immortality.

The development of an innovative culture is exactly the same.  Organizational teams that work together, ignore the consequences of failure, try new things, exploit advantages and learn from mistakes will innovate.  The problem is, what are you doing to support them?  If you are like many organizations, you are paying lip service to them, but not backing up the talk with walk.

I wasn't the only one who noticed that IBM bought a large chunk of advertising time during both NFL conference championship games over the weekend, running their funny (but deadly serious) jabs about those who "innovate" without action.  Their point is unmistakable to those of us who have been in this line of work for longer than the current buzzword wave...innovation is about taking action and making money.  If you have neither, you are not innovating.