Chicago Innovation Awards: A Role Model

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Inventiveness Without Boundaries

The breadth of innovation is inspiring. Past winners include Archipelago, for its electronic trading system that has transformed the New York Stock Exchange; Ocean Tomo, for creating an auction of intellectual property rights; Local Initiatives Support, for its approach to transforming urban neighborhoods; and Turbo-Tap, whose superfast spout has changed the way beer is dispensed in sports arenas across the nation.

Innovation isn't limited to corporations or even nonprofits. We gave an award to the City of Chicago for its work to help low-income people understand the value of the Low Income Tax Credit, and a second for a material that lets rainwater seep through alley pavement rather than run off into storm sewers.

We no longer fete only the 10 winners. We now invite every nominee to a reception, where they can mingle and make contacts. This also expands our (and their) network beyond the program sponsors. This year the University of Illinois at Chicago is working with us to host this added reception.

But networking alone isn't enough. Innovation isn't a "eureka" moment. It is not invention. It is a process that can be taught and learned. In our definition, innovation needs proof of impact. So Northwestern's Kellogg School now provides a free, day-long executive education course entitled "The Practical Innovator" for 75 nominees.

Today we know without a doubt that the innovative spirit is alive and well in the Chicago region. I'm convinced that if I went to any other part of the nation, I'd discover the same thing. So why doesn't every major city have an annual event like the Chicago Innovation Awards? It takes stamina by organizers and commitment by the corporate sector. We have been at it long enough that the Chicago Innovation Awards perhaps could be a role model.

Indeed, I think it's time to do this on a national scale. In previous columns, I have written about forming a national innovation policy. Central to my recommendations were innovation incubators and other measures designed to stimulate the creation of products and services such as a national innovation award akin to the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. If our experience in Chicago is any indication, the benefits of honoring those behind the best new innovations in the U.S. would far outweigh any costs.

To learn more about our efforts, see chicagoinnovationawards.com.

Thomas D. Kuczmarski is founder and president of Kuczmarski & Associates, an innovation consultancy based in Chicago. The author of five books, Kuczmarski has also taught product and service innovation at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management for 29 years.

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