Innovation Goals – Brass Ring or Fool’s Gold

Reading Seth Godin’s observation on goals, I had to smile.  In a few words, Seth captured a key paradox of innovation.  We want the freedom to think expansively and discover unexpected value, yet we want to know that our investments in innovation will be aligned with our mission and yield a high return.

Many innovation practitioners eschew the interference of such things as goals and objectives.  The reasoning tends to be that goals create constraints to the innovative process and that the innovator must be free to explore any avenue in order to find the best opportunities.  But this viewpoint is not supported by practice and experience.

As Seth points out, “the people who get things done, who lead, who grow and who make an impact… those people have goals.”  You don’t have to look far to see shining examples of this around us.  Edison was very goal driven.  Would we have put men on the moon if the goal had not been given a voice?  Rather than constraining our vision, goals provide a lens that brings clarity to our view of the innovation landscape.  Things that were fuzzy, liminal, and beyond our reach come into sharp focus and become distinct possibilities.

One of the first steps to breaking the shackles of accidental innovation practice is the acceptance that innovation both can and should be directed by goals and objectives that provide the clarity of vision to help us find high value innovations.  When an organization starts to realign its thinking and believe that value creation through innovation must be a part of everything it does the seeds of a healthy and sustainable innovation culture can take root.

Comments

[Ellis]

Seems to me the choice doesn’t have to be Goals: Yes or No. As he says, people who get things done ... have goals. They set them realistically, and then they do their best. They take what comes, but don’t accept defeat. They reprioritize. As a result, they don't need to make many excuses. Hopefully they can either make a ruckus and have some fun anyway, or better yet, they can incorporate that right into the goals, so they also feel they are spending time doing what matters right in most, if not all of the moments in which they are living.

[brack]

Hello Mr. Todhunter,

Seems to me goals are great for getting things done and creating motivation. But I've been slowly learning the process of enjoying when my goals get accomplished and coupling patience and encouragement when they don't get done.

I found your blog the other day and want to visit as often as I can. I'm motivated by creativity and idea generation...so I enjoy your posts.

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Hi,
Nice Post. I read a lot of posts in this blog and found them very useful & interesting .
Regards,
Thomas Adora

[James Todhunter]

Great feedback, folks! Personally, I find goal setting a very valuable tool. I set and review goals frequently--both small goals (i.e. need to get this item done for the week) and big goals (like "I am going to develop a game changing technology to revolutionize this market!"). I think Ellis said it very well. Accept what comes; don't accept defeat; reprioritize. All important aspects of keeping your sanity when planing big hairy audacious goals.

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Hi James
Your blog is so nice and innovative too.Goals are meant for getting things done and creating motivation.
Waiting for your new blog.
Thanks...