Preparing the Way for Innovation

Prelude to a consulting agreement: 1. The management of a high-tech firm makes a decision to innovate and summarily announces it. 2. The approach taken comes across to the organization as a crash course, if not a crusade. 3. The search for innovation involves everyone in the organization, and a designated steering group is appointed. 4. Tangible results are expected within six months. 5. Breakthroughs are to be rewarded with one-time bonuses. Does any or all of the above sound disturbingly familiar to you?

Expand Your Thinking

For a long time, we have emphasized the characteristics of so-called “left brain thinking” as keys to success. We’ve pushed logical and literal think­ing in our universities, in business management, and yes, in consulting. Many clients engage consultants specifically to concentrate on analysis or mechani­cal thought processes to solve opera­tional problems. There’s nothing wrong with this kind of thinking, this kind of orientation, this kind of consulting. However, more is possible, and that ex­pansion of thinking will enrich and em­power.