By Kathy Gersch, Kotter International

While people have spilled much ink on how to create innovation, I'd like to offer an easier way to get there - by process of elimination.  

Let's start with five things you will NOT hear at the most innovative organizations.  

Be on alert for them; These are clear indicators that your company is losing its innovation "mojo."

1. "Can we do that?" Permission seekers are the mark of unclear company vision. If your company's vision is clear enough, and has been communicated constantly and consistently, people do not come to you for permission, they come to show you what they've already done.

2. "We can't do that." On the flip side of the previous comment, you find the limitations or barriers people have set up in reaction to the punishment they've experienced for prior failures. If your people see others try, fail, then get punished, you can guarantee that people will remain in the safe spot. No one is going to try to innovate, much less try anything remotely outside the box ever again.

3. "We have to go through proper channels." A mark of truly innovative companies is that the employees are well-networked, and they are constantly crossing silo walls to engage other departments, gather knowledge, or just get an outside opinion. Though one person may come up with the idea, nobody creates a great innovation solely on their own.

4. "That's good enough." In many companies, once significant progress is made, momentum slows and eventually the project fails. This is one of the key reasons 70% of change efforts fail. Yes, it's important to celebrate incremental wins, but in innovative companies, people don't let up - they continue to focus on the final prize. This only comes from a relentless focus on winning.

5. "That's not my job." This final phrase is the clearest indicator that people aren't focused on the future of the company. If employees have a clear understanding of the vision set by leadership, no one will be talking in terms of their box on the org-chart. If you hear "us" and "them" language referring to internal teams, beware. Employees at innovative companies know it is always "our" job - we win together.

Stay on the alert to these dangerous phrases that might sneak into conversations in your organization. A great brand name no longer protects you from losing your edge. Remember Kodak? 

There's a man sitting at a bar just looking at his drink.  

He stays like that for half an hour.  

Then, a big trouble-making truck driver steps next to him, takes the drink from the guy, and just drinks it all down.

The poor man starts crying.  

The truck driver says, "Come on man, I was just joking. Here, I'll buy you another drink. I just can't stand seeing a man crying."

"No, it's not that. This day is the worst of my life.  

First, I fall asleep, and I'm late to my office. My boss, in an outrage, fires me.  

When I leave the building to my car, I found out it was stolen. The police say they can do nothing.  

I get a cab to return home and when I leave it, I remember I left my wallet and credit cards there. The cab driver just drives away.  

I go home and when I get there, I find my wife sleeping with the gardener. I leave home and come to this bar.  

And when I was thinking about putting an end to my life, you show up and drink my poison." 

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