IP and IC — a strategy or the strategy?

I had a really interesting exchange a couple weeks ago on the Tangible IP blog with Andrew Watson and Jordan Hatcher.

The question was: How to define “intellectual property strategy?” By the end, Andrew wrote:

The challenge I see though is that at some point along the scale of how wide the definition is drawn, one ends up almost redefining the business, or needing to turn it upside down to have the impact one wants to have. Few CEOs we know would buy that. So at least for now, we are drawing the box around the bits of intangibles (mainly innovation culture and placing proper systems around how the outputs from that are recognised and protected) that a CEO new to this area can comprehend.

I have been holding myself back on this one. I wasn’t going to answer him. Don’t want to mess with CEO’s. But I couldn’t help myself. So here goes:

I know that few CEO’s are ready or willing to face the fact. But the truth is that the drivers of almost every business today are intangible knowledge assets (which may or may not have legal protection and become IP). Eventually, we will have to redefine the business.