Improving innovation ability is today the most important lever for increasing profitability and growth. But success is mixed. In just about all industry sectors the 25 percent most innovative companies have 2.5 times as many new products and get 10 times better returns on their innovation investment than the least innovative ones. In 2004 Arthur D. Little conducted its third Global Innovation Excellence Survey on innovation management. This article presents the key findings and shows how companies can benefit from them.