One of the biggest draws of any marketing automation platform is the ability to create messages aimed at prospects and customers without all of the manual work on behalf of the sender. Marketing departments strapped for resources can now send out emails on Sales' behalf with the click of a button. High fives and fist pumps all around, right? Maybe so, but don't forget this is only half of the story; The other half, of course, is making a personal connection with the prospect.

In one of his books, physicist Richard Feynman, shares a few stories about inventions he concocted as a young boy. Although they were rather ingenious (one was a potato slicer), they were quickly cast aside with irritation by the grown-up crowd, regardless of how useful they were. The moral of the story is that innovation is a very difficult thing in the real world.