Maybe I should have titled this entry "The Politics of Innovation" or something like that, but I chose a dinosaur theme because the subject strikes me as old and predatory.
Creative productivity in a corporate setting is anything but simple. Once you have great ideas your primary task becomes less about executing those ideas and more about saving them from being destroyed.
I recently heard about an executive that didn't care about the "learning game" I'm creating for a project I'm working on. This got me to ponder and reflect on what I'm now referring to as "Executivosaurus Predatorus" which can be loosely defined as "losing executive buy-in" for a creative initiative.
From my perspective, when you are trying to shift the ground underneath and infuse new thinking, you have to begin with original, creative ideas. For those ideas to spawn into tangible outcomes, you need executive buy-in (otherwise who's gonna pay for it?). Why is executive buy-in important? For me it's about leadership and value propositions. Executives direct more than just the numbers... through their actions and deeds they define what makes the organization different and unique.
On the other hand, if your idea is good, and it's backed by a certain number of key people, you may get it off the ground anyway. My thinking, however, goes like this: I may get the idea going, and the production done... but if there are executive stakeholders that do not believe in it, I don't think it has a chance of success.
I understand the balance between creativity and reality. Good, original ideas don't come along too often, and many of them are torn to shreds before they have a chance at life. If an idea is truly bad, it will more than likely die of natural causes on its own.
For us to shake off the malaise of unoriginal thinking, we need to be brave enough to stand up to Executivosaurus Predatorus when it occurs, defend the creative ideas that are germinating, and work on making sure those stakeholders truly understand the need for their commitment to the project (especially if it is already underway).
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