Monday, January 10, 2011

Purposeful Innovation

One of the things that becomes abundantly clear when talking with "innovation enthusiasts" is that for many people innovation for innovation's sake is a perfectly reasonable [perhaps unconscious] concept. Perhaps this is an unwitting outcome of their fascination with change, but my impression is not only is this wrong, it can be terribly misleading! Any discussion of innovation should always start with the context for why that innovation is necessary, or desired. Without such guidance, innovation can waste resources and squander talent. I believe that innovation should always be purposeful! And, I also believe that way-too-many of the innovation professionals that I work with get so caught-up in the excitement of innovation that they pay far too little attention as to why are we doing this anyway?

1 comment:

Lee Clark-Sellers said...

Innovation always requires the idea's group of individuals. Individuals who are uncluttered with the realities of business. Innovation then requires the business group of individuals who are concerned with the operational aspect. It takes both groups to take innovation from an idea to an innovation - something which adds value to a group of people. Otherwise an idea stays as an idea. Which should never be confused with innovation.