Stewart Mader's recent guest post on ZDNet.com talks about the much discussed meaning of "Enterprise 2.0", which eventually leads to this on-the-mark commentary on innovation:

"Being innovative is not something you do based on a neat, step-by-step process. There isn’t a universal set of rules that make your behavior innovative. It’s a result of understanding the purpose of your work, observing how it gets done and thinking critically about your role, and recognizing the things you can do to make it better. Sometimes that results in refinements, and other times it leads to more significant changes. But when you’re in tune with the purpose and process, you intuitively know when and why change is necessary, and you can communicate that to others with authenticity."

In the process of refining and updating the marketing plan for EditMe, I've been thinking about specific customer targets and profiles where wiki technology can be applied and this comment resonated with direction of that effort.

At the end of the day, wiki is a technology term. When I talk about EditMe with people who aren't in technology, the wiki term inevitably comes up. It usually means little or nothing to them, and the blank stare on their face and vague nod at the mention of Wikipedia is proof.

The term wiki should be used like the term "internal combustion engine", another technology term. Without the internal combustion engine, every day tools like cars, yard trimmers, electricity
generators and chain saws would not exist as we know them. But you don't hear John Deer's marketing department selling internal combustion engines, and you don't find internal combustion engines for sale at your local Home Depot.

Mader's remark on innovation is made in the thought context of applying wiki technology to the intuitive refinements and/or significant changes that ultimately get labeled as innovation within
organizations. Like the internal combustion engine, wiki technology is a superb central ingredient to all kinds of new innovations waiting to be uncovered.

The beauty of wikis is that they do not, in and of themselves, define their purpose. Rather, wiki is the engine underneath that serves some larger purpose, be it managing and disseminating documentation, bringing together project participants from around the world, or collaboratively defining and documenting the business processes that allow a small business to thrive and grow.

What your wiki does will ultimately be defined by how you use it, but how you will use it and what problem it will solve must be what introduces the need for a wiki in the first place - not the other way around. Wiki technology must be applied to solve an identified problem rather than brought in to be "the organization's wiki" simply because wikis have worked so well in other organizations.

You wouldn't go to Home Depot and buy an internal combustion engine because they've worked so well in so many devices. So don't use a wiki. Use a [your problem solution here] if your problem will be solved by one and not for any other reason.