My fellow HBR blogger Bill Taylor recently made a pitch for all of us to stop using the word “innovation” in 2014. Despite his plea, I suspect this word isn’t going anywhere. It’s too important as a driver of growth and renewal. What can be done, in the spirit of Bill’s admonishment, is to stop getting tangled up in all of the variations, nuances, tools, techniques, models, frameworks, and paradigms of innovation. Somehow we’ve taken a simple concept — the idea of systematically finding, encouraging, and implementing new ideas for growth — and we’ve made it horribly complex. And of course, by complexifying innovation, we’ve probably started to kill it.
Don’t Abandon Innovation — Simplify It
You don’t need a wizard or a guru to unlock new thinking.
January 06, 2014
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New!
HBR Learning
Innovation and Creativity Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Innovation and Creativity. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Unlock your team's curiosity and willingness to take smart risks.