A brief post, but I wanted to share this excellent post on Principled Innovation. I think Jeff D Cagna’s spin on this topic is a little differently focussed from where I’m taking it, but I think what he is saying is valid not only for associations and organisations, but Enterprises as well (perhaps he also meant this, I’m not sure).
He says:
 The real threat to our future is the way we’re thinking about and leading our organizations today.
I see evidence of this all the time - Enterprises are setup to preserve the status quo, breaking through the tried and trusted to approach something in a new way is generally considered a threat. More from Jeff:
This is not a point I make lightly, but we must be clear on what is really holding our organizations and our community back, i.e., our inability or unwillingness to admit that we actually do live in a different time and that we must adjust our ways of thinking and leading accordingly.
I’ve been working with a number of bricks and mortar retailers in fashion recently, and one thing that’s come through again and again is a sense that while they believe that something might be happening, they can’t quite place their finger on what it is all about.
Are we holding ourselves back as Enterprises from embracing the new, and will our risk aversion to experimenting with the new modes of business hamper us in the near future? Or is it a Tortoise and Hare race, with the Enterprise the Tortoise that will eventually adapt and win the day?
