Innovation is the new black.

If you’re cool-hunting in the business category these days, the hottest, hippest word out there may be idea, followed by innovation. Google lists 45,500,000 global monthly searches for keyword “ideas” and 4,090,000 for “innovation.” Thanks to years of economic uncertainty and disruption, generating ideas is the new passion du jour. Armies of creatives hop from a plethora of pricey TEDs to trend treks to inspiration workshops. 60,996 Trend Hunters and 15,000 Springspotters rove the planet searching for nuggets. Books by innovation gurus whip us into a change-the-world whirlwind:

“EXPLOITING CHAOS is a rousing battle cry for the kind of creative, risky thinking that is most needed in times of change and disorder. Whether you’re a CEO trying to stay ahead of the curve, a daydreaming teenager, or a wannabe trailblazer, this bold guide is the shake-up you need to check your assumptions, get inspired, and turn business-as-usual totally upside down.”
- Daniel Pink, bestselling author of A Whole New Mind

Or they don’t:

“While 95% of the 300 Fortune 1000 executives surveyed recognize the criticality of innovation to future growth, more than half of those surveyed admit that their company has no system, tools or processes for fostering enterprise innovation and at least a third of those surveyed see the lack of such tools and processes as barriers to innovation at their company.”

Innovation is either going to save us or the (lack of it) will be the end of us. We are either woefully and humiliatingly behind. Or lightyears ahead.

Why am I ready to rant about the current focus on innovation and ideas? After all, as the uber-entrepreneurial Guru of New, with decades devoted to idea generation, innovation and new products, I should hardly be kvetching when trendcasting turns front and center. But here’s why: now that there are legions of processes for generating idea-gasms, shouldn’t there also be processes for ruthlessly killing the bad ones? With this explosion of inspiration, who decides what ideas are good, and which ones are bad? Which ones are brilliant — but perhaps not right for your brand or business? Which ones sound genius but will ultimately chew up your company’s money and resources? How you do decide which ones are Newtons, and which ones are iPods?

I’d love to hear how your business is solving this dilemma — other than counting the days till Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs” is released, now estimated to be November 21.