Being innovative

I went to a very interesting group session about trying to make us more innovative at work. There was lots of discussion about what the organisation can do to be more innovative but it all centred around doing things in our usual way; set up a working group, appointment a manager, have monthly meetings.

I think that being innovative needs an innovative approach, it can’t be achieved by doing things the same old way. I also think that as an organisation we need a clearer idea of what we mean by ‘innovation’, what we want being innovative to look like, examples of innovation both inside and outside the organisation.  

Of course, at the opposite end of the scale you could argue that innovation comes from within an organisation by people fighting against the established systems and trying to find solutions to problems. Maybe it’s for the individual to just go ahead and be innovative without having to wait for the organisation to create a framework for them to be innovative within.