Principled Innovation LLC

Innovation isn’t a matter of faith

October 24th, 2006

After many years of talking about innovation as a balance of systemic freedom and systemic discipline, it is frustrating to read articles written for associations that present innovation inaccurately. If there was one point on which I thought we were clear by now, it is that innovation is not a matter of faith.

I am reacting to the article, “Calculated Leaps of Faith”, which appears in the October 2006 issue of Associations Now. The very title of the article sends the wrong message to association leaders about the pursuit of innovation. Sure, good luck and good timing often play roles in innovating successfully, but with the consistent investment of resources over time, innovation is more like playing blackjack than shooting craps: the risk of failure doesn’t go away, but skill does improve your chances of success.

We also should remember that fortune and faith are not the same thing. The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines faith as a “firm belief in something for which there is no proof,” not an apt characterization of innovation given everything we have learned about how it works over many years. There is ample evidence to support the argument that strategically-focused innovation will produce excellent results for organizations willing to capitalize on the fruits of the human imagination through intelligent risk-taking that manages both uncertainty and financial exposure.

Unfortunately, the first paragraph of the Associations Now article reinforces a basic misunderstanding of innovation that is widespread in associations:

In July 2004, [a] newly appointed [president and CEO], asked his board of directors to jump off of a cliff with him. The water below might be 20 feet deep, or it might be six inches deep. The options? Stay put and die, or jump and pray for deep water.

While this account makes for a good story, it also encourages leaders to adopt a skewed “either-or” perspective of innovation, i.e., what stands between our success and our failure is an inordinately risky all-or-nothing gamble. Moreover, in which other aspects of association work are leaders actively encouraged to simply wish for a good outcome? As I’ve written previously, budgeting is “the greatest exercise in organizational fantasy,” and yet senior association staff and volunteer leaders still expect “the numbers” to be met or, at least, for there to be solid reasons explaining why they weren’t. Hoping everything works out okay isn’t a widely-accepted strategy for achieving financial results, and we shouldn’t adopt it as part of a mindset for pursuing the work of innovation.

My advice to association CEOs and boards is to take a principled approach to innovation that balances freedom and discipline, and not one that overcompensates for the fear and uncertainty they feel around taking risks. It would be very disquieting if, out of a misplaced paralysis induced by the fear of failure, association leaders concluded that innovation is simply too risky or too difficult for their organizations to make it a genuine priority. At this critical time in the association community’s history, what we really need is leaders who willingly embrace the challenge of creating a more vibrant future with insight, foresight, energy and passion!

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Entry Filed under: Principled Innovation Blog, What's New?, Social Media, Innovation, Associations, Extreme Makeover, The Association Innovator, We Have Always Done It That Way