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November 30, 2005

Environment or Process: which helps Innovation more?

Looked at entirely dispassionately, environment is cultural, and process is political. Add to that the key thing that warrants being called "innovation" -- which is simply a quality of newness that is the difference that has significance.

In practical measure, an innovation is something that is unprecedented and has either compelled or attracted acceptance. But the "newness" is always entirely a matter of context. Organizations, therefore, should understand innovation in terms of whether their basic need is for a cultural change (which alters the way value is defined) or a political change (which alters the way value is pursued).

As for being helped more by environment (culture) or by process (politics), the issue is not so much about one versus the other, but instead about whether the alignment of the two -- a prerequisite for successful innovations -- is more likely to be accomplished by emphasizing one or the other.

Acknowledging that, the opportunity to foster innovation can readily differ from one area in an organization to another, and from one time to another in the organization's operations. That's why innovation opportunities must be managed.

Posted by Malcolm Ryder at November 30, 2005 8:16 PM

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