One of the most distressing things about the banking– and Wall Street-induced financial meltdown of the past year has been the perception that companies can reduce manpower indiscriminately, and automagically get themselves back to readiness for the forthcoming upturn.

That is a really crazy notion.

Many a CEO, bereft of new ideas, and adhering unfortunately to The Peter Principle, i.e., that he/she/it has risen to their level of incompetence, and stays there — in these cases, the top of the company — resorts to pruning, especially R&D pruning, as a way to revive the fortunes of the company.

While these staff cuts work relatively well in the short term, they invariably show the errors of such wanton layoffs as time goes along. When the stuff hits the fan for those clueless CEOs, their introduction to John Obeto’s Maxim on Murphy’s Law, that Murphy was the shameless blue-sky re-incarnation of Pollyanna, is usually swift, and thankfully, career-ending.

That said, it is encouraging to know that several American companies, see innovation as The Way.

This is a very good thing.

This past month, I have had the good fortune to engage, work with, and use products from some American companies that incorporate innovation into their very DNA: Symantec. HP. Microsoft.

I have had the opportunity of playing with reviewing some of the most innovative hardware and software products just introduced into the US market.

I have also had the pleasure, again, of talking to two of the partners of Ivy Worldwide, formerly known as BuzzCorps, on the expansion of the mission of their company.

I would like to introduce Uwa Eribo, as our Associate Editor at SmallBizWindows. Uwa has been a valuable analyst for Logikworx here in California, and previously in the UK. I look forward to his reviews and timely analyses as a counterfoil to mine.

Finally, I have finally gone nuts with Web 2.0, Facebooking and Twittering to my heart’s delight.

In closing, I cannot thank HP, Microsoft, and Symantec enough for their continuing commitment to innovation. For it goes without saying that our prowess in the world is not due to our military might, but due to the innovations that have created great American corporations.

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This editorial previously appeared in the July 2009 issue of The Interlocutor.