“We want to be smart innovators – not cutting edge” said my colleague. I still not exactly sure what distinction he was trying to make, since avoiding cutting edge sounds like a need to avoid risk – but innovation requires that you take a risk.
Cutting Edge
But what does “cutting edge” come from? And what does it refer to?
Now days it means something new, so new that it might not be fully tested or fully know.It’s often used to apply to technology.
In terms of origin I only find information that it come from the idea of a knife’s blade – the cutting edge – leading the cut.
To take the expression to extremes someone has come up with the phrase “bleeding edge“, maybe that’s what my colleague meant.
Image from mikearther via Flickr
Tags: business cliche, cutting edge
