Welcome to the Innovation Department

Shouldn’t new ideas be everybody’s job?

by Barry LaBov

I met with a huge multinational company within the past year, and the experience left me thinking quite a bit about how many companies inadvertently stifle fresh thinking.

The visit started as I wound my way through several lines for security and x-raying, after which I was shuttled to a holding area before I was finally greeted by our host, whom I followed through several hallways into yet another secure area, where we met with the "Innovation Team."

Now, the Innovation guys were great—they were, well, innovative. They offered a lot of great ideas and enthusiasm. But the experience left me with a lot of questions. Namely, why have an "Innovation Department" at all? Wouldn't that imply that the rest of the company isn't innovative, that the employees didn't feel their calling was to be innovative? (Unless, of course, they were in the Innovation Department). How innovative, for that matter, is the name "Innovation Department?"

Perhaps the CEO of this particular company said that the company needed to be more innovative and therefore created a specific department. But how will a small department alone be able to change that culture? Sounds like a pretty tough challenge.

Shouldn't all of us be inspired and expected to be innovative? Wouldn't creating an "Innovation Department" all but guarantee that the corporation will not be focused on innovation? All too often, and despite our best intentions, we can create an environment that actually works against our vision, our mission, our goals.

Does your organization have an innovation department? Or is the whole organization one?

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