Picture an executive team meeting about artificial intelligence. The CEO wants AI to drive growth. The CIO wants to roll out copilots. The COO sees chances to automate. The head of product wants AI-enabled tools. The CHRO worries about how AI will change jobs.
Everyone agrees AI is the future. Everyone agrees the company needs to innovate. Then everyone leaves the room talking about something different.
That scene, described by a self-described "dean of innovation," captures a growing problem inside large organizations. We use one word — "innovation" — to describe very different kinds of work.
The Real Innovation Problem Inside Companies
Adopting a new technology is not the same as improving a process. Launching a product is not the same as creating a new business model. Transforming an organization is not the same as tweaking a workflow.
Yet leaders use the same word for all of it. This is not just a language issue. It is a practical one. When teams cannot agree on what they mean, they cannot align on what to do next.
The AI example shows the stakes. Each executive has a valid vision. But those visions point in different directions. Without a shared definition, the company cannot move as one.
Why Clear Definitions Matter for Teams
This confusion does not stay in the boardroom. It spreads to every department. A marketing team may call a small update "innovation." An engineering team may reserve the word for breakthrough products. Both are right — and both are talking past each other.
The result is wasted effort, missed opportunities, and frustration. People think they agree, then discover they were never on the same page.
To put it plainly: if a company cannot define innovation, it cannot manage it. Leaders need to ask what kind of change they want — not just say the word and hope everyone understands.
Our Take: Stop Using Innovation as a Buzzword
In our view, this is one of the most underrated problems in business today. "Innovation" has become a catch-all term that means everything and nothing at once.
The fix is not harder work. It is clearer language. Teams should name the specific kind of change they want — a new product, a better process, a fresh business model — instead of hiding behind a vague label.
Until leaders do that, they will keep having meetings where everyone agrees, and nothing gets done.
