An interview with Michael Perman, the former ‘Dean of Global Innovation’ at Gap contains a lot of the usual platitudes about creating an innovation culture but it is interesting and significant for two provocative statements which Perman calls ‘Innovation Baloney’.
– Innovation is everyone’s job. NOT. That’s no more true than distribution being everyone’s job. Yes, everyone needs to have empathy, but in reality, innovation requires talent, passion, and tenacity.
– Fail fast and often:Really? That’s sounds like “be a loser as soon as possible.” In reality, innovation emerges from being curious, from experiments, and from continuous learning. Since when is learning an act of failure?
Whether you agree with this or not, it’s a good conversation starter the next time you’re in a discussion about innovation.