Celent is challenging all to come up with the best definition of innovation in six words or less. We will be evaluating these stories as definitions and selecting a winner at Celent Innovation and Insight (I&I) Day in Boston on February 27th. There will be prizes! We encourage you to come up with your own definition and submit your entries to us. You can leave comments on this blog, send an email to Erica Ferguson at eferguson@celent.com using the subject line “Innovation Is” along with your contact information, or join our LinkedIn group created especially for this challenge. We have received numerous submissions so far! You can check out your competition here. I can’t wait to read your thoughts on innovation and see you at Celent’s I&I Day in Boston. I have put much thought into this challenge and came up with several definitions myself. My favorite definition for innovation is only three words. In essence, innovation must meet two important criteria. First, it must include some element of difference or change of the current process. Second, and equally important, it must be appealing. Hence, my entry: Different and Cool Some important guidelines to your entry: 1. (Legitimate) hyphenated words count as one word. 2. You may use a maximum of six words. You may use fewer, but under no circumstances should you use less than one. 3. Creative use of spaces within made-up words may be allowed at the discretion of the judges. 4. The use of pictures is not permitted (after all, a picture is worth a thousand words). 5. Some settling of contents may occur during shipping and handling.