From Innovation Graveyard to Innovation Hotbed

This long read first appeared in issue 23 of Developing Leaders Quarterly magazine, May 2016.




"Nearly everyone who took part in CCL’s 500-person client panel said innovation is a key driver of success (94 percent) but relatively few (14 percent) were confident about their organization’s ability to drive innovation effectively -- despite 77 percent reporting that their organizations have made attempts to improve innovation."

This article aims to help its readers move away from ineffective innovation practices and squarely toward being effective at driving and leading innovation at their organization, and does so by tackling three principle key questions head-on:

Innovation as a Leadership Challenge – “Each leader’s role is about connecting ideas to ideas; ideas to people; people to people; and ultimately connecting ideas to needs.”

How to Foster Innovation Leadership – “Innovation calls for middle managers to successfully navigate the polarity of both implementing the organization’s existing strategy and facilitating ‘doing something new’.”

Make the Middle a Hotbed of Innovation – “Without investing in the middle, innovation will not move through the organization. Ideas will not be connected to other ideas.”

You can download the article in its entirety as a PDF using the Download Resource button below.