One can hardly mention higher education today without hearing the word "innovation," or its understudies "change," "reinvention," "transformation." Last summer the National Governors Association opened its meeting with a plenary session on higher education, innovation, and economic growth. But there is nothing funny about the need for innovation and the resistance to change. The author asserts that the shifts and competition would create a new playing field for higher education, but the pace of change is stuck somewhere between sluggish and glacial. Competency-based credentials may someday compete with a degree, so colleges that want to survive had better get moving. College leaders need to move beyond talking about transformation before it is too late.