THE JARGONIST: Breaking Down Business’s Buzziest Terms

A culture of continuous innovation noun (pronounced ā, kəlCHər, əv, kən’tinyōōəs, inə’vāSH(ə)n)

Definition: an organization that strives to achieve perennial topline growth by rewarding entrepreneurship and actively supporting it with a set of habit-forming best practices and idea-building tools.

Used in a sentence: Google has created a culture of continuous innovation, in part by setting the table for the cross-pollination of ideas throughout the organization.

First known usage: The term and organizational philosophy have migrated from Silicon Valley, where tech giants like the aforementioned Google have succeeded in attracting and harnessing some of the world’s best minds through a culture that values curiosity, creativity and the open sharing of ideas. The coveted success of those tech giants has inspired other businesses to embrace a similar philosophy.

The Buzz Index: The term has likely reached peak buzz, but shows no sign of waning, in part because a true culture of continuous innovation is such a highly desirable yet challenging-to-achieve-and-maintain state. Today’s most successful companies place a philosophy of continuous innovation at the core of everything they do.

Brush up on other business buzz words: Co-create

Jargonist Robert Cherry is Chief Creative at Seed Strategy. His least favorite buzzword is “margin accretive growth,” which makes a good thing sound like a malignancy.

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