Innovate or Die Shouldn't Be an Instruction
Innovation isn't about creativity. It's about whether people believe taking a risk is career enhancing or career limiting.
"What are we going to do about CB?"
The question came up more than once.
"He's exactly the sort of manager we say we want."
"He's also exactly the sort of manager that makes us nervous."
CB was enthusiastic. Creative. Always looking for better ways of doing things. If only we had more like him.
The problem wasn't his ideas. It was how he went about making them happen.
His philosophy was simple.
"If it isn't specifically against the rules, let's try it. It's easier to ask forgiveness than permission."
He wasn't trying to be a rebel. He wasn't looking for a fight with Finance or HR. He was trying to improve services. But innovation rarely fits neatly inside existing systems. Support services sometimes saw risk where he saw opportunity.
Eventually he was sidelined. Not dismissed. Not publicly criticised. Just quietly moved away from the interesting work until he left for a more senior job in another organisation.
His story had two endings.
One for CB.
One for everyone who stayed.
The organisation thought it had lost one manager.
The emotional organisation learnt a lesson.
Don't be like CB.
Innovation isn't really about creativity.
It is about whether failure is survivable.
The formal organisation says it wants innovation.
Strategies talk about creativity. Business plans promise transformation. Job descriptions ask managers to challenge established ways of working. Leaders encourage people to think differently.
The Formal Organisation says:
"Take calculated risks."
The Emotional Organisation replies:
"Show me who survived taking one."
Psychological safety has become the accepted explanation for why some organisations innovate and others don't. It matters.
But the Organisation Inside the Organisation explains where psychological safety comes from.
It comes from Trust.
It comes from Hope.
It comes from Pride.
And above all it comes from organisational memory.
Employees don't decide whether innovation is safe by reading the innovation strategy.
They decide by remembering yesterday.
What happened to the last manager who took a risk?
Who got promoted?
Who got blamed?
Who quietly disappeared?
Most organisations don't have a shortage of ideas.
They have a shortage of people willing to expose themselves to failure.
Every innovation carries two risks.
The practical risk that the idea won't work.
The emotional risk that your reputation won't recover.
For most managers, the second risk feels much bigger than the first.
Every organisation has an innovation strategy.
Far fewer have a failure strategy.
Finance, HR and governance are not anti-innovation. Their job is to reduce unnecessary risk and ensure consistency. Innovation inevitably creates uncertainty. The tension is built into every organisation.
The problem starts when managers are told to innovate but discover they will carry the consequences alone if things don't work out.
Take flexible working.
Many organisations encouraged managers to experiment. Find local solutions. Use their judgement. Be innovative.
Some managers were praised.
Others found themselves challenged for inconsistency, questioned by support services or overruled when difficulties emerged.
Employees noticed.
The lesson they learnt wasn't really about flexible working.
It was about whether experimentation was genuinely supported.
The formal organisation believed it had delegated responsibility.
The emotional organisation concluded that delegation lasted only until something went wrong.
Leaders don't create innovative cultures simply by asking for more innovation.
They create them by creating new experiences that gradually outweigh old memories of punishment.
Every time someone takes a thoughtful risk and is supported, even when the outcome is imperfect, trust grows.
Hope grows.
Pride grows.
The emotional organisation slowly starts to believe the slogans.
Innovation doesn't begin with permission.
It begins with belief.
Belief that if this idea fails, my career won't.
The formal organisation can delegate authority.
Only the emotional organisation grants permission to use it.
Before asking employees to innovate, ask one question.
Who was the last person promoted for taking a risk?
blairmcpherson.co.uk
