Metrics for "innovativeness" is the topic of discussion in a thread at iSixSigma. The most useful of the replies (as of now) is by BTDT's response:

"Very few ideas are truly new. When I see an idea or product that is considered 'innovative,' it is when someone applies an existing, but uncommon, technique to an existing problem....If I wanted to measure innovation using citation data, I would measure the number of citations outside the original area of specialization. The number of references outside the area of specialization may be a leading indicator of innovation, but not impact."

BTDT's perspective seems to coincide with the philosophy behind TRIZ, an approach to innovative problem solving based on analysis of over 2.8 million patents.

10:53:49 PM    
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