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Too Many 'What Abouts?': Surefire Way To Kill Innovation

Sitting in a meeting recently about new business opportunities at a global giant, Scott Anthony writes that he had an epiphany after hearing two words constantly crop up shortly after each proposition was introduced. The words were "What about?..."

Important as the question may be to bring a project into sharper focus, Anthony says, once you get going, it's hard to stop. "Each answer generates questions whose answers lead to further questions. It could become infinite." And before you know it, you can kill a good idea.

"Entrepreneurs don't have the luxury of asking "What about...' questions," Anthony writes, "and in disruptive circumstances that works in their favor." The alternative for resource-rich companies is to "figure out the quickest, cheapest way to do something market-facing to start the iterative process that so frequently typifies innovation." In other words, open a Web site or a kiosk in a mall and get real feedback from the market and your colleagues.

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Read the whole story at Bloomberg/HarvardBusiness.org »

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