Last week was all about innovation - I was over at Edinburgh University business school, quite an undertaking for a "weegie" like me - but you know me, one likes to get about.   Disruptive, incremental, or just plain old genius as told by Alan Kay of the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) -  "Don't worry about what anybody else is going to do...The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

I find this whole area fascinating.  Particularly as there exists a huge body of evidence which suggests that ideas which transform a company into a cause (leaving behind the me-too competitive mentality), undoubtedly go on to become the most successful.  Take Southwest airlines - not low cost flight, but being so cost effective that everyone gets access to air travel.  Or even HBO, well known for their groundbreaking TV series like The Soprano's, but who are loved by both artists and consumers alike for their edgy and daringly different TV content.  

I bet there are whole host of Scottish companies which also fit this mould.  Great innovators, daringly different with that real and unabashed passionate sense of purpose - who continually ask themselves:

1.  Do you have a distinctive sense of purpose that sets you apart from your rivals.?

2.  Are you prepared to reject opportunities which distract you from your long-term mission.?

3. If your company went out of business tomorrow - who would really miss you and why.?