If Pittsburgh and the United States are to maintain a competitive economic edge in an increasingly growing and changing economy, then innovation must play a critical role.

But innovating doesn't necessarily come easy or follow simple rules.

Just ask Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, who argues that when it comes to fostering innovation, companies often have to break from tradition and take what looks like the wrong route.

At Innovation Day, a business conference yesterday sponsored by the Pittsburgh Technology Council, Christensen, author of "The Innovator's Dilemma," discussed how giant chip maker Intel, discount retailer Kmart and Southwest Airlines clobbered the competition by slashing prices. And he explained why such mighty businesses as Pittsburgh's own steel industry disintegrated when underdog competitors caught them off guard and captured the market.

Even the best companies are at risk for being upstaged -- not because they are poorly run or greedy, but because they pay too much attention to customers or continue to invest in what they think are the best new technologies, Christensen said.

Contrary to popular thought, companies that seemingly are on the right path are still at risk of being sideswiped, according to Christensen. Even the most well-oiled machine can eventually be undercut by the ambitious little guy or new "disruptive" technology -- it's almost inevitable, he noted.

Christensen contended that the best way for companies to get ahead and stay ahead was by doing what may seem wrong -- but only at the right time.

Smart companies, according to Christensen, take heed of the little things that, on the surface might seem like a little speck. An obscure, new technology or tiny burgeoning market could eventually transform the industry, he said.

"Innovation appears to be quite risky, random and unpredictable," Christensen said, adding that in fact, it isn't. "It's quite predictable."