Defining innovation down

Speaking of the WSJ, Ann Zimmerman (a long-ago colleague of mine in my Dallas Observer days, though I haven’t spoken to her in many years), had an interview with the honchos at Target the the other day. The theme, of course, was how wildly cool and design-forward Target is. Example? One exec offers this:

We share ideas so that a good idea in one part of the company can translate to another. We have the line Simply Shabby Chic, for instance, and we’re able to say well, you know, that has application in pets. Now who’d have thought that you could take print and pattern and what we do in dinnerware and put it on doggy bowls? We’re structured in a way that fosters innovation.

That’s right. A pattern from dinnerware, recycled on a dog bowl = innovation.

We live in a time of wonder.