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Mar 10, 2017    |      Comments Off on Do you innovate or Discover? We all lead…What kind of leader are you?

Do you innovate or Discover? We all lead…What kind of leader are you?

If you have the perseverance to read this article, you will be able to identify which category of person you are. Do you have the mentality of innovation or discovery?

A flyover of the differences between the two are simply understood this way… In innovative ventures, there is the all important rule…and it is this…

“FOLLOW ALL THE RULES”

That’s the code of the innovative organization. You follow the rules, restrictions, and systems, because we believe they’re up-to-date, effective, and correct, and that’s what makes us who we are.

In innovative ventures, obedience is its own reward, is required, and is prized.

Innovators…

Webster says that innovation is, “to make changes, or do something in a new way.” In Non-webster terms I would say it this way. Innovation is to take something old and make it useable in a new way. Innovation is reformation. Innovation is often the act of taking something that worked over there and adapting it, so it works over here in a better way than it worked over there.

Is this a bad thing? No. I’m not opposed to the product that innovation creates, I’m disturbed by what the innovation process does to the innovators.

To innovate something usually requires an attitude of, “needs improvement.” Such an attitude is not necessarily a bad thing. Great leaders have the ability to see what’s not working and make necessary changes. The tricky part is, an attitude of “that needs improvement” is usually preceded by an attitude of “I can do it better.”

It’s very difficult to be humble with an “I can do it better,” attitude, and the frustrating thing is, this naturally breeds arrogance.

There are some common errors that innovators make that create their own demise. The Wall Street Journal recently came up with a list of 5 commons mistakes of Innovators. I will give a brief description of the mistakes and if you want to read the full article you can go to this link and read the details.

http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/05/23/five-common-mistakes-business-leaders-make-about-innovation/?mod=google_news_blog

The 5 common errors of Innovators…And I added a sixth.

1. You believe your own numbers and stats. You insist on “seeing the numbers” too soon and all you have to base your numbers on, is your current statistics, compared to your past.

2. The Success Trap. When a company gets success, it easily can focus on what they think is the thing that made them successful. This focus on “what got us here” causes a crowding out of other options, especially from new people that have joined you. This causes success fragility. In their book “In Search of Excellence,” by Peters and Waterman, the authors tell the fate of 43 companies recently leading the world that got caught in this trap. Today only 5 of those 43 companies even exist.

3. Believe they know the competition. The innovative company tends to make huge mistaken identity gaffs when it comes to identifying the competition. Ask the innovative CEO, “Who is your competition?” They will usually reply with the company that is most like them. The problem with this is that history proves that our greatest competitors usually come from a different angle. i.e. Shipping companies suffered from the steam engine, newspapers are in trouble because of the internet, watch companies suffer because of time being displayed on mobile phones.

4. Believe that because everybody had always done it this way, it is the best way of doing the next “new” thing. When America landed on the moon…Innovation built the rocket, the space suits, space food, etc. But innovation is not what Neil Armstrong used when he put his hand on the door hatch and opened the door to outer space to take his first step onto the moon’s surface. That was sheer discovery…no longer could innovation be used. Talk about a humbling moment.

5. Asking the customers for their opinion. The innovative company is really good at answering the questions that their non-customers never ask. The customers have already bought into the company. Why are we asking them what they want? It actually gets worse…Think about it, the company’s leadership team, that has innovated its idea from an old idea, is now sitting around the table making decisions based off of what has been done to try to keep going to next levels.

6. Stop taking real risks. Most innovative companies are led by people who ultimately are not risk takers. There is a difference between risk taking and calculated risk taking. Innovative Leaders are safe “risk” takers. They only take calculated risks with what they understand. The problem with this lies in the fact that if you are the company in the lead…which means nobody has gone before you on this journey…you can’t calculate what to do, because their has been nothing done before you to calculate. There is nothing to do but risk. Companies in the lead usually end up not being in the lead anymore, because the Leader ran out of ideas to innovate.

Innovation is good. Discovery is Great! Let’s break down discovery…
Webster says that Discovery is, “The act of finding or learning something for the first time.”

My heart beats faster, just after reading that definition. You’ve read the headlines…“Her research led to a number of important discoveries. Discovered a talented musician. Voyage of discovery. It was one of the most important discoveries in the history of _____________!”

Discovery!

Think of Lewis and Clark and their expedition of discovery. It required teamwork. It required admitting that they had no clue what they were going to really encounter. Discovery has a knack of showing all involved that they are not in control. Discovery forces all involved to admit this phrase; “I don’t know!” Therefore, discovery creates humility.

Here’s what is exciting to me about the key difference between innovation and discovery. I wrote earlier that Innovation breeds arrogance. What’s evident about discovery, is that it breeds humility.

An arrogant person thrust into an environment of discovery will be forced to become humble. Humility is born and bred in the middle of uncertainty and danger. Opening yourself or your organization to uncertainty and danger creates humility.

Discoverers have to rely on and trust each other. Which team would you rather work on? Innovation or Discovery? In his book, “Good to Great,” Jim Collins differentiates between Levels 1,2,3,4, & 5 leaders. Collins talks about how level 4 leaders and level 5 leaders can produce very similar results, but a key difference between a level 4 leader and a level 5 leader is humility or lack there of. Level 5 leaders always lead through humility. Level 5 leaders tend to lead companies with the reputation for being Discovery oriented. By the way, if you doubt you are a humble leader, then you are humble.

A good example of creating humility through discovery would be taking an innovative person, as described earlier, and put them in the front of a raft as everybody White Water Rafts down some grade 5 rapids. The typical innovative person will have their arrogance washed away (in this case maybe literally). This setting of discovery forces arrogance to morph into humility.

A quick comparison of Discovery and Innovation. Innovation focuses on the outcome and results. Discovery focuses on the cause and the behavior, while on the journey, no matter the end result.

When it comes to discovery, the most important things are not at the end of the Journey, its what develops and shapes along the journey that makes champions.

Discovery is all about the mentality of facilitating the progress and purpose of others. Discovery is fun along the way because of the thrilling unknown yet to be discovered, and it cannot be about you. It has to be about others, especially your teammates. This kind of work environment is thrilling.
The attitude of discovery has no silos among the team. Innovative environments create hierarchies and power pyramids and is led by bosses that control and measure according to a predetermined end result they will strive to achieve at all costs.

Discovery creates circles of people that honor and trust each other’s strengths. This silo-less discovery team, has a leader without a Boss mentality. The buck must stop somewhere, but the buck stops with the one who is the functional leader. A true leader is one who naturally facilitates the purpose and progress of all the others in the circle.

There is no “Boss Mentality” in the circle of discovery. Why? Because when you are out discovering and the “boss” finds himself in quicksand, the boss mode just got stuck. They are now the beggar, and now that they are helpless, depending on how they treated their “subordinates,” they might be left to die and it all be covered up as a tragic accident!

The Innovative Mentality is focused on the orgs final results and goals.

The Discovery Mentality isn’t focused on the organization as much as it focuses on the environment within the organization.

The Discovery Mentality is full of observation towers, not silos. It discovers from its own customer but is overloaded with interaction with the lives of others outside its own company…a team on discovery!

A company of discovery never polls its own, only interacts. You can’t poll something that is yet to be discovered and so the company of discovery is full of trial and error.

It has a culture of discovery and grace. How many times did Abe Lincoln fail? How many times did Albert Einstein fail? With unknowns around every corner, discovery keeps you and the team humble. It has a great sense of humor and often laughs at itself. It has a mentality of meshing and sharing with others. It has a trust in every individual in the company to utilize and expand on their own personal expertise and strengths. Team and Trust are a must in Discovery Companies. The company of discovery has an attitude of servant-hood and adventure and considers others better than self.
There is a fine line here. Its complex. Discovery companies will innovate because they didn’t have arrogance to breed from. Innovative companies rarely discover because they started with an attitude of arrogance.

My simple question is…which company do you want be a part of? Here’s what is awesome about companies of discovery. They never end. They continue to discover and adapt and discover into the future.

Companies of innovation sooner or later celebrate among themselves how they achieved their final result, they celebrate their first place status, because…they nailed their ultimate goal! Hip Hip Hooray….Hip Hip Hooray. Its at this Hip-Hip-Hooray staff meeting where they unknowingly signed the slow-death certificate. Innovative companies, in first place, have nothing left to innovate on, and these are the companies people talk about when they think back at what used to be amazing.

Innovation routes always have dead ends. Yep, I said it, always. Discovery routes may have cul-de-sacs, but cul-de-sacs and dead ends are very different, and it is measured out in arrogance or humility.

I by no means am an expert in this. I’m simply on a discovery journey.  I am thinking out loud.  I’d enjoy your comments and thoughts.  I’m still discovering what really works for me and its an adventure that is quite thrilling and very humbling.

Sep 6, 2012    |      Comments Off on Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 2 of 2)

Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 2 of 2)

The Spirit of Discovery.

I am nearly breathless after trying to describe innovation in my previous lesson. I want to now take a look into the spirit of discovery. So, keeping it old school, Webster says that discovery is “The act of finding or learning something for the first time! 

My heart beats faster just after reading that definition. You’ve read the headlines; “Her research led to many important discoveries. Reporters discovered that the Governor had been unfaithful to his wife. We discovered a talented musician. A voyage of discovery. It was one of the most important discoveries in the history of _____________!” 

Discovery! Think of Lewis and Clark and their expedition of discovery. It required teamwork. It required admitting that they had no clue what they would encounter. Discovery has a knack for showing all involved that they are not in control. Discovery forces all involved to admit this phrase; “I don’t know!” Therefore, discovery creates humility. 

Here’s what excites me about the critical difference between innovation and discovery. I wrote earlier that innovation breeds arrogance; it has to exist already to breed arrogance. What’s thrilling about the act of discovery is that it creates humility. An arrogant person thrust into an environment of discovery can become humble. Humility is born in uncertainty and danger. Opening yourself or your organization to uncertainty and risk creates humility. Discovery creates humility which causes all involved to rely on each other humbly and usefully. 

Innovators command their teams to do as told. Innovation companies rely heavily on their policy manuals to police one another, and it breeds untrusting groups inside riskless environments. Please understand me; there is a need for policy. The attitude difference behind the policy is night and day different amongst innovative and discovery-type companies. It’s the difference between arrogance and humility. Discoverers have to rely on and trust each other. Which team would you prefer to work on? Don’t forget that Innovation and Discovery are both good. I like the discovery mentality and the bias you read in this article.

An example is from the book “Good to Great” written by author Jim Collins. In his book, Collins differentiates between Levels 1,2,3,4, and 5 leaders. Jim Collins talks about how level 4 and level 5 leaders can produce similar results, but a critical difference between a level 4 leader and a level 5 leader is humility or lack thereof. Level 5 leaders always lead through humility. Level 5 leaders tend to lead companies with a reputation for being discovery oriented. 

Many companies are known for being a company of discovery, and their leaders seem arrogant. Maybe a fine example would be Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. Steve Jobs carried a reputation for being arrogant. However, I think there are some nuanced differences between arrogance, confidence, and ego. Often all of those traits are shrugged off as arrogance, requiring discernment to know the subtle differences. The differences are known by how much character is evident in a person. The difference between arrogance and confidence is not discovered by measuring their ego but by their character. The ego is a good thing when the measure of character in a person is as high as the measure of ego. However, a high ego and low character are the chemistry of an arrogant person. 

How does one transform an arrogant innovator into a humble discoverer? An excellent example of creating humility through discovery would be forcing an innovative person who struggles with arrogance in the front of the boat as you White Water Raft a raging river. This control-type person and his arrogance wash away (in this case, maybe literally washes away) into humility as everybody else in the raft hears him scream like a child. HUMILITY SERVED! 

That is what I love about discovery. It is teachable. Innovation is contagious, and discovery is teachable. 

Discovery is the mentality that focuses only on causes and even invests fully in a cause regardless of the effect or the result. I said earlier that I am a pastor. So if I study the life of Jesus, I can see He was a man who even knew the result or the effect of His life. He was going to be badly beaten and murdered. Yet he stayed with the cause. By cause, I mean the foundation, the reason, the why we are pursuing a goal instead of forcing a specific result. Innovators push results, and discoverers focus on a cause and trust the results to manifest. In the people business, like ministry, the outcome/result/effect is God’s job, not mine. My job is to focus on the cause regardless of the effect or result. In the Lewis and Clark discovery expeditions, they couldn’t control any outcomes or results. Every step could have been their end. They had to live in the moment and keep discovering new things around every corner, river, crevice, predator, and tree. The results took care of themselves and were remarkable. 

Innovation focuses on the outcome and effects…the end result. 

Discovery focuses on the cause and behavior while pursuing a cause. 

Innovation measures results. 

Discovery measures faithfulness to the cause. 

One is motivated by control, and one is motivated by love for the cause. One is living for the future at the cost of the present, and one is loving the present and leaving the results in God’s hands. 

It’s scary and breeds humility to leave the results in the hands of God. I think leaving things in the hands of God is the safest risk you could ever take. In the Big Picture of life, the most important things are not at the end of the journey; what develops and shapes along the journey makes champions and usually creates an end product more remarkable than an innovator. If a climber of Mount Everest only focuses on the end result of attaining the top of the mountain, then what happens once the pinnacle is reached? (Many Everest Climbers have witnessed people who only focused on the result and forgot to focus on their next step, resulting in a fall to their death.) Also, once the climbers of Mt. Everest achieved the result of getting to the top of the mountain, those who only focused on the result struggled with depression soon after. The journey, the cause, is where fulfillment is found. Living for a cause is unending, leading to more discoveries. Achieving a final innovative result requires more critical thinking to start another innovative process that stimulates a vicious circle of arrogance.

Discovery is all about the mentality of facilitating the purpose and progress of others. Discovery is exhilarating along the way because of the thrilling unknown yet to be discovered, but it is not about you. It has to be about others. Discovery mixed with selfishness kills people. In its purest form, discovery is about team and trust, and reliance on the critical factor that everybody has each other’s interests above their own as they risk together on a path toward discovery. 

Discovery admits that the behavior never changes, but the answers and results do. So a person of discovery never has the solutions for tomorrow and only has their behavior to control.

Jesus taught that people shouldn’t worry about tomorrow for today has enough problems. (Matthew 6:34)

People with the Spirit of Discovery keep asking, “How should I treat this person right here, right now?” How should I behave as I proceed into this business meeting?” “How can I focus my attitude to deal with this next situation that will impact my company?” “In this current conflict, how can I respond to this person to show that I care about them, even if our conflict results in separation?” 

Discovery lives for the cause regardless of the effects/results. 

Discovery focuses on the cause, not the effect. It focuses on the journey, not the results. 

Innovation forces an outcome and controls and measures results over and over and over. Discovery measures behavior and leaves the outcome up to God. Discovery measures, but it measures very different things when compared to an innovator. Discovery is the best business model. 

Hopefully, you are thinking right now, “I want to be a leader of Discovery!” 

The attitude of discovery has no silo groups individually working toward some result. Discovery breaks down the walls of separation and verifies the need for each other. Innovation creates hierarchies and power pyramids that police each other. Innovative bosses control and measure according to a predetermined result they strive to achieve at all costs. Bosses and leaders are very different. Discovery creates circles full of people who honor and trust each other’s strengths for survival and discovering the result. Discovery teams are silo-less circles with a leader that does not have a Boss mentality. Oh, please don’t mistake me, the buck must stop somewhere, but the buck stops with the one who is the true leader. A true leader naturally facilitates the purpose and progress of all the others in the circle, even willing to lay down his life for them.

There is no “Boss” in the circle of discovery. Why? Because when you are out discovering and the “boss” finds himself in Quick Sand and about to die, his boss mode transforms into humility. He might just be left to die depending on how he treated his “underlings,” and it all gets covered up as a tragic accident! I don’t want to be a boss with everybody licking my boots out of fear. I want to be a leader who discovers with my team while keeping other people’s best interests ahead of mine. That’s discovery. That’s a level 5 leader. 

The spirit of discovery’s primary focus is not on the organization’s end goals but on the environment inside the organization that leads to great team discoveries. 

A discovery team maintains focus on the cause and the organization’s culture; then, the organization will grow as a result. Focus on the cause, not the result! A result that happens out of fear, control, and force is not a result that gets celebrated, except for a bonus check at the end of the year. The next generation of leaders is not motivated by bonus checks but by discovery relational teamwork.

How does a discovery-type leader grow?

A discovery-type leader rarely, if ever, looks into their field type for how to do it better; that is what innovators do. When a company of discovery quits its attitude toward discovery, it becomes innovative. A discovery company knows its competition is a company in a different field of interest, and its worst competition is itself. I love the slogan on Michael Jordan’s web page. “The only man who could stop Michael Jordan….Is Michael Jordan!” That is true of your company, church, family, and yourself. When a company of discovery finally feels like it has arrived and has the best idea, it has now transformed into a company of innovation. 

A company of discovery is full of observation towers instead of silos. It studies and learns (discovery) from its customer but is full of interaction with others outside its own company. A company of discovery never polls its own, only interacts. You can’t poll something yet to be discovered, so the company of discovery is full of trial and error. It has a culture of permissible failures followed by grace. How many times did Abe Lincoln fail? How many times did Albert Einstein fail? With unknowns around every corner, discovery keeps you and the team humble. It has a great sense of humor and often laughs at itself. It has a mentality of meshing and sharing with others. It trusts every individual in the company to utilize and expand on their expertise and strengths. Team and trust are a must in Discovery Companies. The company of discovery has an attitude of servanthood and adventure and considers others better than the self. Obviously, I have a bias towards the discovery company and carry a bit of displeasure towards companies of innovation. That’s my problem, that I will have to deal with. My simple question is, which company do you want to be a part of? Here’s what is remarkable about companies of discovery. They never end. They continue to discover and adapt and evolve into the future. Companies of innovation sooner or later celebrate how they achieved their final result; they nailed their ultimate goal! Hip-Hip Hooray, Hip-Hip Hooray. Then what? These are the companies people talk about when they think back at what used to be. They usually last one lifetime, measured by three generations. Again, not bad, not wrong; Just not where I want to leave a mark on history. 

So which of these two is the company you work in or lead? 

Innovative? Then you have good news; you can develop your spirit of discovery and be remarkable. It’s time to get your team together and go where no man has before. It’s scary! It creates humility. Are you up for it? 

Discovery? Then stand guard, for it is easy to start coasting, which can only happen on a downward slope. The instant you think you have arrived, you have transformed into innovation, but that is okay because you can decide to discover once again!

I hope you will discover who you are.

I hope you will discover what could change the world and make it better.

I hope you will discover the freedom of working humbly with a team.

I hope you will discover that the greatest joy in life is helping others achieve their dreams and desires.

When you discover that, you will be living your dream.

The journey will be unbelievable. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts and pushback. I by no means am an expert in this. I am simply thinking out loud. I like to think it all makes sense, but I’m sure there are gaps. I’m still discovering what works for me, and it’s a thrilling and humbling adventure. 

Go Discover!

Sep 5, 2012    |      Comments Off on Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 1 of 2)

Innovation vs. Discovery (Part 1 of 2)

Are you a person of INNOVATION or a person of DISCOVERY?

I have been in multiple meetings and asked questions about people’s perceptions of me and our organization. I have had many discussions in the past year of my life about perceptions. People’s perceptions are people’s reality, and people’s reality tends to be their truth. People’s first impression of you might be false, but it will be their perception of you. How people perceive you is more crucial than you might like to admit. How do people perceive you? I want to compare two popular leadership styles influencing how people perceive us: The spirit of innovation and the spirit of discovery. 

Please understand that innovation and discovery are strengths; each is important and good. I am confident that the spirit of discovery creates more success than the spirit of innovation. 

One is not born with either of these styles of leadership influence; they are a choice. Which type best describes you? 

The Spirit of Innovation

Webster says innovation is “to make changes or do something in a new way.” I define innovation: As taking something old and making it useable in a new way. Innovation is reformation; innovation is often the act of taking something that worked over there, tweaking it, and using it over here. Innovation is doing something old differently. 

On the surface level, the spirit of innovation sounds fantastic. I’m not opposed to the product that innovation creates; I’m apprehensive about what the spirit of innovation does to the innovators. 

When a group of people innovates something, they become very loyal to the innovation. Why? Because they innovated it, and it is theirs. 

When an innovator innovates, they take something old and reform it into something new. Once innovation occurs, the innovator naturally thinks their innovation is exceptional and loves it. 

When the innovating group believes they have created exceptionality, it is nearly impossible for them to innovate again. Why? Because innovation is making something work better. For an innovator to re-innovate is to admit that whatever they first innovated is now lacking. No innovator ever wants to admit that their innovation is no longer working or needs to be improved. 

Another problem with innovation is that anything innovative is not new but has a façade of new. Grocery Store shelves contain products with bright new advertising: “new and improved.” However, it is the same product with a newly designed label.

Innovators approach products and ideas with an attitude of “needs improvement.” Great leaders can see what’s not working and envision what is necessary to make it work. I’m calling into question the disposition of the innovator. An attitude of “that needs improvement” is usually preceded by an attitude of “I can do it better.” Having an “I can do it better” attitude and being humble is tough.

An innovator naturally believes they can improve a product and only achieves such by first criticizing it. Critics are rarely respected and sought out for advice because innovators breed arrogance. Innovation does not lead to arrogance; it breeds arrogance. To breed arrogance, one must have the arrogance to start with. 

The Wall Street Journal recently came up with a list of 5 common mistakes of Innovators. I will give a brief description of the errors, and if you want to read the full article, you can go to: “http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/05/23/five-common-mistakes-business-leaders-make-about-innovation/?mod=google_news_blog” http://blogs.wsj.com/source/2011/05/23/five-common-mistakes-business-leaders-make-about-innovation/?mod=google_news_blog 

I added a sixth to the mix of the five common errors of innovators.

1. You believe your numbers. You insist on “seeing the numbers” too soon, and you only have to base your numbers on your past statistics. Remember that innovation is not creating something new it is taking something old and making something you think is better, and numbers usually drive this reality. Driven by numbers creates a leadership mindset that RESULTS matter most. Using a biblical worldview to demonstrate my point, people of the Bible who focused on controlling their results always caused significant damage to relationships and hurt the numerical results.

2. The Success Trap. When a company gets financial success because it got very good at what it does, it focuses on what made it successful. This focus on “what got us here” causes a crowding out of other options and points of view, and it is only a matter of time before the company gets stuck in its inability to innovate itself, causing success to fatigue. Large companies are most susceptible to success fatigue, and their death is frustratingly slow and agonizing. In the book “In Search of Excellence,” by Peters and Waterman, the authors tell the fate of 43 companies recently leading the world that got caught in this trap. Today only 5 of those 43 companies even exist.

3. Believe they know the competition. The innovative company makes a substantial mistaken identity gaff when identifying the competition. Ask the innovative company’s CEO, “Who is your competition?” They will usually reply with the company that is most like them. The problem is that history proves that our most significant competitors typically come from a different angle. i.e., Shipping companies suffered from the steam engine; the internet threatened newspapers, and watch companies suffered because of mobile phone displays. In my opinion, Innovative companies get so caught up in the love of themselves that their greatest enemy is themselves.

4. Believe that because everybody has always done it this way, it is the best way of doing the next “new” thing. Innovative companies think they are on to something “new,” but they are only reforming the old, which is a significant detriment when entering uncharted territory. I have been in the leadership of a large innovative church. This church has such large numbers that for them to go to new levels means they have no organizations to innovate. They will never achieve the next level unless they eliminate their innovative spirit. For instance, when America landed on the moon. Innovation built the rocket, the space suits, space food, etc. But innovation is not what Neil Armstrong could build off of when he put his hand on the door hatch, opened the door to outer space, and took his first step onto the moon’s surface. The spirit of discovery was required for Neil Armstrong to achieve something that had never been done before. You cannot innovate to enter the uncharted successfully. When your company is leading the way, and you choose to move forward through innovation, you just signed a contract that says you are guaranteed to no longer be in the first position and possibly just inked your death certificate. Suppose an innovative company has earned first place. In that case, it must transition to a Discovery mentality to enter uncharted territory.

5. Asking the customers for their opinions. An innovative company is good at answering customers’ questions while ignoring new prospects’ desires. The organization’s current customers have already bought into the company and do not need to be asked about their loyalty. The mistakes breed when the company’s leadership team, which has innovated its methods from an old idea, is now sitting around the table making decisions based on past success. The company makes decisions based on keeping their customers happy while new and unreached people need to be “Discovered!” 

The spirit of innovation’s downfall is the team’s inability to innovate anymore because they would have to admit that their innovative idea “used” to be a good idea but is obsolete now. An innovative company never wants to acknowledge that its product no longer works. “Pride comes before the fall.” 

Innovators work hard to appear correct, regardless of the actual results. It is fascinating to me that innovators love upward results. Still, when the results prove a downward trajectory, the innovator’s arrogance cannot admit that their innovation is no longer performing. “Every bad idea used to be a good idea!” Innovation always leads to an eventual dead end.

6. Stop taking ultimate risks. Large innovative companies tend only to take calculated risks based on past success. There is a difference between discovery risk and innovative risk. 

Innovative Leaders are calculated risk-takers. The problem is that if you are the leading innovative company, which means nobody is ahead of you, you can’t calculate using your innovative spirit because there is nobody to innovate from in front of you. One can only discover from this point forward, and the risk required for an innovative company to shift into the spirit of discovery is terrifying. 

Companies in the lead usually end up not being in the lead anymore because the leader ran out of ideas to innovate. The top dog company begins to focus on how much there is to lose, settle in on their success, and “play it safe.” It’s like a Pro football game. The game is close, and the winning team has the ball at the beginning of the 4th quarter. The offensive coordinator tries to protect the lead and thus changes the game plan from ‘playing to win’ to ‘playing not to lose.’ What usually happens when that game plan is employed? It’s called an upset. 

What’s the solution? The leading company can only open themselves up to new learning experiences that make them feel uncertain and incompetent. Because there is nothing to innovate on, the leader must become like Neil Armstrong and begin to discover new! As my next post will describe, I call it the mentality of DISCOVERY.