“You see things; and you say

 ‘Why?’  But I dream things that

never were; and I say ‘Why not?’

— GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

     Sounds great, doesn’t it?  Inspirational as can be, right? Terrific motivational stuff, yes?  Easy thinking for any entrepreneur to buy into, isn’t it? 

     Therein lies the problem. 

     From the foundations of innovation springs disaster masquerading as the allures of conquest. 

     Unless you, Mr. and Ms. Entrepreneur, are engaged in the birth of a business, or a new way to do something more effectively and more efficiently, your innovative spirit may be courting notions of self-destruct.  In other words, if you are trying to build a better looking mousetrap when you’ve already got one that works, you may be taking your business enterprise over the falls without a lifejacket or even a barrel. 

     There’s nothing wrong with promulgating the policy of “if it ain’t broke, fit it anyway!”  BUT there’s a lot wrong with innovating just for the sake of innovating.  And knowing how and when and where to draw that thin line is a talent best left to those with genuine frontline experience and a sense of fiscal balance . . . those who understand the difference between self-centered “low trust” and consumer-driven “high trust” performances.  

     Perhaps you don’t agree, but manufacturer presentations by Samsung and Panasonic at this past week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas took on the role of “profitability unconsciousness” one-upmanship in their relentless (and brainless) pursuit of thinner and thinnest TV screens (now measured at cardboard thickness of 6.5 millimeters!). 

     “YYSSW” as many of our kids might text message in response (“Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, whatever”).

     I call this misguided, unrealistic, over-the-top entrepreneurial ambition run amuck.  How can big successful companies possibly think that inspiring and nurturing the kinds of entrepreneurial brainstorms that produce the world’s thinnest TV screens has any relevance in an economy-squeezed marketplace that really doesn’t give a damn?

     It’s hard to call successful businesses like these mismanaged, but the truth is they are fostering fantasy at a point in history where only realism and “high trust” corporate developments count for anything. 

     Oh, I’m wrong?  You can’t wait to run out and buy the latest thin screen TV?  And then there’s the new top of the line Apple laptop for $2,800.  Give me a break, people!  Are you planning to fall in behind the automakers in search of government bailouts for 2009?

     You, dear electronics industry executives, may think that because the general public has now come to view your products more as necessities than luxuries, that it’s okay to commit consumer rape and armed robbery.  If you’re not working on your resumes right now, you’re dumber than any of us non-techies ever imagined. 

     The public is not stupid.  And when you ignite entrepreneurial explosives with the goal of taking advantage of the public, that’s when entrepreneurial spirit kills, and that’s when you’d better doubletime it out of town!  halalpiar   

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