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Solving the problem doesn't go far enough. Sustainable — transformative — innovation emerges from the ability to collaboratively explore alternative approaches. Watt, Carrier, and Intel didn't achieve their breakthroughs by solving problems for their strategic clients; success came from testing approaches with their clients. Whether business historians acknowledge it or not, that's equally true for Henry Ford, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs.

As the saying goes, the one thing history teaches is that we don't learn from history. Just because business history short shrifts the customer and client contribution to innovation success doesn't mean businesses should. If you want to become a more innovative organization, don't hire more innovative employees, acquire more innovative customers. Your capacity to innovate matters less than your customers' and clients' willingness and ability to exploit it.

Procurement professionals may have found 2010 testing but the past 12 months have also seen businesses prepare for recovery, albeit cautiously. So what does 2011 hold for procurement? We asked  CPOs worldwide for their predictions.