Innovation Rarely Happens Quickly

On Monday we launched a new way of delivering change. It means every change we want to make across the organisation will follow a collaborative approach.

We want to ensure we solve the right problems and that we encourage innovation, not just optimisation. And we want to make sure that the silo thinking we’ve broken down doesn’t make a return.

However — as one colleague was quick to point out — the image and the concept has been in circulation for 18 months.

It’s only now though that it’s real.

You see — if you work in innovation or design you’ll always see a time lag from inception to implementation. Even in the best organisations it will take months, sometimes years, for new concepts to be assimilated into the everyday culture. Many (most) never make it.

That’s why there’s always questions about how innovation teams spend their time and whether it’s worthwhile.

When you’re working two years into the future it’s really hard to demonstrate outcomes that fit conventional performance frameworks.

It’s an area we need to get better at if we are serious about shaping the future — rather than just being passive recipients of it.