Can you guess who David and Goliath are in this metaphor? My friend Chris, an HR guy over at one of those big pharmacy companies, sent me a great Business Week article on innovation at small and mid-size companies. The article is a fun, easy read that examines why smaller companies are so much better at innovation, and provides some practical tips on what those of you working for the big guys can do.

I’ll let you read the full article yourself, but some of my favorites include:

When you are small, you benefit from a quick cycle of experimentation and learning. When you are big, the budgets, culture, and shareholders all stand in your way of following this pattern. Small and smart companies understand the value of trial and error.

Attack Tradition: What do you do? The obvious answer is to slash bureaucracy; fire the people who are hindering progress, and beef up your innovation efforts. The less obvious course? Think like an entrepreneur and create a new company of your own. (MS: this makes much more sense in context – I promise!)

If you are the CEO, you need to be involved. If you aren’t the big boss, you need to garner as much upper-level management support for your new idea as possible. If you don’t, the odds of nothing happening increase dramatically.

Enjoy! And if you have any thoughts on it, I’d love to hear them in the comments section below.