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Mark Twain said “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”  What about corporate innovation?  What the heck, here goes…

The business was strong and the business was fat
But something was wrong ‘cause the stock was still flat
The business was growing but technically speakin’
The growth rate was slowing and executives were freakin’

So funding was traunched with management approving
idea harvests were launched, creative juices got moving
when it came time to deal, some ideas got blessing
but it was hard not to feel people seemed to be guessing

how could they predict who’d accomplish their mission
it was more like edict, based on group intuition
“I feel it’s a winner” team leaders would say
“after all I’m experienced, with a sweet MBA”

The crew was inspired, action-oriented and lean
Not bureaucratic drones from the corporate machine
They were, in their minds, the furious and fast
They didn’t want to be tainted by grinds of the past

The next years were bleak as the ventures were scaled
After thrashing around, most eventually failed
Some still had promise but the costs were all soaring
The few deemed as “winners” were, frankly, quite boring

Now that the money and tears have been spent
and brave folks’ careers have all taken a dent,
the business is growing but technically speakin’
the growth rate is slowing and executives are freakin’