The case for innovation

We are entering an new stormy era. Governments do not have the financial resources to do all the things we want them to do in the way that things have been done in the past. But even this is not fundamentally new:

"The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise -- with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country." - Abraham Lincoln 1 Dec 1862

One of the major constraints is that we are "enthralled" (Lincoln) and/or "entrained" (Snowden) by the past. So we try to improve and reform on the basis of the past. But will this work? Consider this!!

Dave Snowden has proposed that there are three necessary, but not sufficient conditions for innovation to take place. These are:

1. Starvation of familiar resource, forcing you to find new approaches, doing things in a different way;

2. Pressure that forces you to engage in the problem;

3. Perspective Shift to allow different patterns and ideas to be brought into play.

The cutbacks and the need to continue create the first two conditions. The third condition is a matter of choice and opportunity. Some possible perspective shifts available for you to choose are here. The opportunity to choose will be a combination of

• your awareness of the possibilities (the cutbacks should generate a steep learning curve)
• external constraints imposed by the system and the expectations of stakeholders.