Innovate or Die?

Great by Choice uncovered a different truth. He found that the top performing companies were not more innovative than their peers. Yes, they were innovative, but they were not always the ones on the leading edge. Instead, they took small risks, learned from them, and then built on the ones that showed great promise. Last week, I was in a brainstorming session with a large mission organization. It was exciting to hear the innovative ways that they’re using the internet to rapidly accelerate the spread of the gospel. They’re doing this in a way that fits Collins’ concept, starting with small steps, learning, and then leveraging their successes. For many ministries, however, the problem isn’t that they’re taking too much risk in their innovations; it’s that they’re not innovating at all. There are lots of reasons for this. Staff and resource constraints are always at the top of the list of excuses. Then there’s the inevitable resistance to change and the bewildering range of options of new things to try. For these organizations, the “innovate or die” axiom is an appropriate warning. What’s a leader to do? Consider starting with an informal “innovation” audit. Convene a meeting with your leadership team to discuss how much innovation has occurred in the past 12 months and what impedes innovation. Then find a few people who show a tendency to think out-of-the-box, and give them some freedom to experiment. You might be surprised at what you discover. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>