Innovation: Not shiny or new; not always the ‘next big thing’
I recall sitting in a meeting a few years ago to review the draft of our organization’s new five-year strategic plan. Most of my memories of the meeting revolve around the chair of the meeting going on and on about ‘what is new, what is different?’ Having reviewed a significant portion of the plan, an amalgamation of the strategic plans of different teams in the organization, I had to agree with the sentiment in principle. A few new terms stuck here and there, a couple of new projects but nothing ground breaking or agenda setting. To be honest, it was disheartening because I knew my colleagues were far more inspiring in their work than what we were reading on paper. In fairness, however, how could we possible expect ‘new’ and ‘different’ with a moment’s notice to make the plan, and nothing more than a vague idea about what was supposed to be ‘new’ or ‘different.’