
A common thread in all the activities in which we’ve
commemorated CommScope’s
40th anniversary has been our special focus on the people
and the innovation that have fueled our growth and success through the
years.
It was an easy choice, really. So many thousands of
talented, passionate people have left their mark on the company and essentially
built the prominent position we hold today with customers and in the overall
industry. And innovation—despite it being a buzzword of the tech and business
world—is a core value and our fuel for future growth and success.
CommScope (and the companies acquired along the
way) and its talented employees have made a meaningful, lasting impact on our
industry and customers through inventions, new products, improved processes and
technology breakthroughs. In our brainstorming and planning for the
anniversary, an ambitious idea was surfaced that came to truly encapsulate the
“people and innovation” focus of our celebration. In our 40th year,
let’s try to identify the 40 best and most impactful innovations that have come
from CommScope or one of its acquired companies over the past 40 years. And
let’s ask the global CommScope team to nominate innovations for consideration
for this list.
And here we are today, ready to unveil our list of
CommScope’s Top 40 Innovations after months of considerable debate by a
multi-functional team within the company. Employees submitted nearly 150
suggestions for consideration, and I’m sure there are many that could have been
considered that didn’t get nominated. Nonetheless, it was an impressive array
of candidates from which to choose the Top 40. The group’s selections were
based on:
- Uniqueness to CommScope
- Positive effects on a customer or
customers
- Level of technology breakthrough
- Demonstrated impact on marketplace
- Lasting impact on company and/or
industry
As we unveil the list, we realize it isn’t perfect. It is
highly subjective and likely will spark some debate and discussion, amongst
employees and outside the company. But it also is a perfect way to illustrate
innovation in action—actual examples of how creative thinking, new approaches,
and even risk-taking can have a positive, lasting effect on a business, its
customers and an entire industry.
Next week on this blog we will unveil the innovations
that were ranked 21-40, in no particular order. (Innovations were not ranked in
order; rather, the reviewers compiled a Top 40 list in three groupings: a top
10, innovations 11-20, and innovations 21-40. The review team decided to place
them in three different groupings to keep the focus on the innovation versus
where they are individually ranked.)
Then, beginning the week of November 14, each of the
innovations in group 11-20 will be announced individually in a series of blog
posts through early December, followed by the announcement of the Top 10
throughout the remainder of December and into January.
As our 40th anniversary year draws to a close,
we hope you enjoy looking back at what we think are our top innovations from
the past 40 years—ones that have helped build the world’s infrastructure of
today and tomorrow. Have an opinion or story about any of the innovations we
reveal? Leave a comment below.