Who Says Innovation Belongs to the Small?

Steve Lohr's recent article, Who Says Innovation Belongs to the Small?, makes many great points: Especially that innovation is no longer the purview of only the small and "nimble." Lohr maintains correctly that innovation now means connecting to larger networks and finding scale. True as well. A few years ago, in my book, The Underdog Advantage, we argue the key is to "act small"...to act like an insurgent by playing offense, staying agile, focusing on your customers and their needs and constantly looking to change the status quo. Many of our clients today are big companies that do just this---that use their scale as an advantage with an underdog-insurgent attitude and strategy to innovate and change the status quo. Size matters....but the key is attitude. The key is for big companies to crash the stove-pipes, de-bureaucratize and act like an underdog-insurgent.

David E. Morey
Vice Chairman
Core Strategy Group
www.PlayOffense.com