In my column last week, our survey asked, "Please tell us about any innovation proposals that turned out to be fiction."

We had a pair of responses:

One company has tried to introduce a self contained suction roll seal strip system that reduces rewet and amp load. I've seen three of them fail, with 2 not making 24hrs

Did we ask ourselves the right questions about the Consultant Connection? The knowledge, networking and potential improvement in a consultant's business could have high value. I would have gotten off to a better start or even realized I didn't have what it takes from the outset. What we didn't understand or explore was whether there are enough career independent consultants that see the need for what we offered. TAPPI's high priced network failed. That venture was fiction since all they offered at a high price was a TAPPI Consultant label. Ours wasn't a fictional innovation, but in retrospect, we might have oversold the value to ourselves.

You may take this week's quiz here.