It goes without saying that in 2009 much of the world was flat broke. Deflated by slumping sales and income, many companies did what innovation consultants say they should never should – they cut spending on research and development. Even one of the most lavish spenders on R&D, the U.S. drug industry, announced the elimination of a record 69,000 jobs this year, up 60% from 2008. At many companies, quick hits and line extensions replaced more costly, though potentially more rewarding, investments in game-changing inventions.

Still, creativity lives on. Among fresh approaches that became mainstream tools in 2009: trickle-up innovation, design thinking, and open innovation. And while the industry may have taken a hit in recent times, the penny-pinching has forced companies to break some bad habits – such as wantonly pursuing every new idea – which could help them roll out new money making products and services as the recession eases and an economic recovery takes hold.

But can these approaches really make up for the cost-cutting that has decimated R&D staffs at many companies? Maybe not. Holiday sales are slumping because many consumers are jobless or too worried to spend the way they had in recent years. But retail consultants blame a lack of innovation, too. In recent years, shoppers were tempted by truly innovative products such as flat-screen TVs and smart phones. The closest thing this year is the $8 Zhu Zhu robotic pet hamster.

I believe a rethinking of the discipline is long overdue. Most innovation, well, isn’t: it is ‘unnovation,’ or innovation that fails to create authentic, meaningful value.

View a previously written post by Mouli Cohen about innovation