Typhoon & Innovation
Out of all bad things about typhoon, one good thing from it is that today I have done a lot of homework and even find time to put down pent-up thoughts into a short blog post - particularly on the subject of innovation.
For all the buzz and hypes about innovation, why is successful evidence of true innovation - those which involving cross-over of boundaries between industries or doctrines - so hard to earn and come by in the corporate environment?
From my experience, the simple yet true answer is that nobody is ever comfortable with new information beyond ones bandwidth of knowledge, particularly if it is clearly outside ones scope of responsibility - a clear disincentive to learning. More often than not, the general response to initiatives calling for any departure from ones comfort zone is no response.
Paradoxically, the other reason is that, as in journalism, people tend to be more reactive to bad news than good ones - as long as it doesn't concern themselves directly. Sadly, it is often the former which provides the content for gossips and slanders - what give people the entertaining, if not cynical, kick of their monotonous or stressful days.
After all, innovation (and entrepreneurship) breeds corporation, not the other way round.
For all the buzz and hypes about innovation, why is successful evidence of true innovation - those which involving cross-over of boundaries between industries or doctrines - so hard to earn and come by in the corporate environment?
From my experience, the simple yet true answer is that nobody is ever comfortable with new information beyond ones bandwidth of knowledge, particularly if it is clearly outside ones scope of responsibility - a clear disincentive to learning. More often than not, the general response to initiatives calling for any departure from ones comfort zone is no response.
Paradoxically, the other reason is that, as in journalism, people tend to be more reactive to bad news than good ones - as long as it doesn't concern themselves directly. Sadly, it is often the former which provides the content for gossips and slanders - what give people the entertaining, if not cynical, kick of their monotonous or stressful days.
After all, innovation (and entrepreneurship) breeds corporation, not the other way round.
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