“Innovate or Die” Peter Drucker, I agree.
One of the best things about my job is the opportunity to meet amazingly innovative organizations of all sizes. I’m fortunate that my company is able to carefully assess the projects we accept. I insist on protecting our company from good people with bad ideas and bad people with good ideas. If the organization will not ultimately succeed, our project with that organization may be at risk also.
After 24 years in business, (first as CIMCASE and now as JUMP) we have had an opportunity to work with many commercial enterprises across the world. During the last decade, we have become very involved in public service projects as well.
While, public service organizations may find innovation even more challenging considering budget and regulatory constraints, every organization has its own particular set of constraints that will block innovation. Always game for a challenge, it took me some time to appreciate that blocking innovation is an inherent and necessary initial response of a stable enterprise.
If a common definition of innovation is “the best way to get from current state to desired state”, then only a good understanding of your current state (resources, systems, constraints, goals, and the things that make your organization unique) will lead to innovation. Otherwise, you’re just changing. And in our experience, change without true innovation is the main reason why technology projects fail at such a high rate.
Change is the enemy of stability in the enterprise. Leadership that develops a reputation for “constant change” rather than continual innovation haven’t done their homework. They must reframe the change as an innovation in order to realize the full value.
I am grateful to have spent more than a decade working with a variety of organizations on new innovation projects. Fulfillment is thrilling when the customer organization participates with the same level of investment. Their passion is infectuous and they become more than customers. They become friends.
Because, Margaret Mead is also correct.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. — Margaret Mead