Better or Different

Mark Fuerst of the Integrated Media Association (IMA) is fascinated by the process of innovation and how management deals with it, and he's fascinating when he talks about it.

Recently he was talking about how people fall into two groups when it comes to innovation: those who want to do things better and those who want to do things in a different way. Call them the betters and the differents.

Apparently you're either one or the other. And if you're a "better" doing a job that needs to "different" you won't last long.

As he's saying this I immediately think of a character at my office who is clearly a different, who's doing a better's job. And he's not happy. So I'm inclined to think that there my be some truth in this.