The Innovation Imperative
One hundred years from now, when the historians and commentators of that time opine on the driving forces of the stunning organizational success to which we have been witness in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, I believe they will summarize their thinking with a single word: innovation. Innovation, viewed by many as just another management buzzword designed to sell books, is actually much more. It is a reflection of the emerging focus of today's organizations on constantly creating a more remarkable future. It is the manifestation of a fundamental belief in the collective capacity and vision of human beings. Most of all, it is an absolute imperative for individuals and organizations alike concerned with sustaining their success in the years ahead.
Innovation is a unifying concept for many of the core ideas that energize the New Economy: learning, knowledge, teams and communities, creativity, and change. Learning is a primary and critical activity of human existence. Through our learning, we open ourselves to a wide variety of original directions and fresh possibilities for our work. We generate critical insights and knowledge that, when capitalizing on the creative resources of our colleagues, we may be able to transform into new products, services and experiences for our customers. This is the essence of innovation.
As an information professional, you have an extraordinary opportunity and, indeed, a certain responsibility to participate in supporting innovation within your organization. Operating at the nexus of the idea flow and the information flow, information professionals can foster the emergence of what I call an "innovation ecosystem," a delicately balanced organic structure that encourages risk-taking, permits and learns from failure, embraces reflection and creativity, and invites leaders to look the organization's current work and capabilities through the lens of the future. Importantly, this role has little to do with formal position or authority. Rather, it can be supported in many small and subtle ways. Here are a few suggestions:
Embrace innovation in your own practice--Your credibility as an innovator will be measured by the degree to which you are willing to embrace innovation in your own work. Take a close look at the big picture of the products and services you provide to your customers and ask yourself this question, "Is what we're offering capable of making a meaningful difference in the way our customers think about or decide a critical issue?" If you are unhappy with your candid response, then it is probably a good time to bring together your colleagues and clients to think differently about how you do things today in order to create a different tomorrow.
Locate and connect with the communities of practice--Communities of practice are the informal learning groups inside organizations that help get real work done. Community members learn from one another, create new knowledge and, in some cases, shepherd the development of important innovations. By surfacing the most important communities of practice within your organization, you can, at once, identify allies and become a key ally in fulfilling the innovation imperative. As you learn from community members about the strategic opportunities and challenges facing the organization, you will be better prepared to deliver to the community (as well as other customers) the value-added services that can influence innovation.
Initiate a pilot project—If you are slightly more daring, you might consider launching an informal innovation pilot project. For example, you may want to work with your community of practice collaborators to bring together an "innovation expeditionary group" composed of people and practices from across the organization. Remember that your pilot project can be an important first step, an initiative intended to help you and your colleagues explore how you can grow innovation into a purposeful activity within your organization.
As you strive to build an innovation ecosystem in your organization, you can be sure that your counterparts in other organizations will be trying to do the same. Innovation may not be a secret, but neither is it easily mastered. It requires a special commitment from all of us who wish to leave a legacy of achievement in our work. We hope you'll join in the effort, and will let us know how you're making innovation a part of your work.
For more information, contact Jeff De Cagna (jeff@sla.org).
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