Leadership in Action: Back to the Future: Putting Innovation Efforts on Solid Ground

STAYING POWER

The cyclical pattern of organizational endeavor makes it difficult for organizations to sustain innovation over time. However, when innovation as a systemic activity is turned on and off, it sends a strong message throughout the organization that innovation is not valued as a core business activity. That might be the most tragic effect of the termination of the innovation programs of the past twenty years. However, organizations that revive their innovation efforts can vastly improve their chances of success by examining and learning from the circumstances that contributed to the programs' demise. Such organizations will be primed to reap the benefit of a successful innovation program—a corporate culture that promotes valuable new ...