Creating a business or just minding the store?

To do successful innovation, an organization must have “processes by which innovation can be evaluated and rewarded, metrics that recognize and measure innovation, and above all, a culture of acceptance for innovation.”

If you want to develop an innovation mindset in your organization, consultant Radhika Chadha says you should ask these questions: Do your people believe their ideas or innovations can be useful to others? Is your middle management a negative filter for ideas, with the power to say no, but not to say yes? Do the rewards measure innovation, or only the ability to carry out responsibilities? Remember: the dot-com bubble wasn’t all bad, and Chadha is somewhat nostalgic for those “wacky and weird ideas” that got rewarded with equally crazy funding. Trial-and-error is just as important as trial-and-success. Actually, they’re identical, and the key word is “trial.”

The Hindu Business Line 8 March 2004