ANOTHER list of innovation commandments

Everyone has something to say about innovation. So I'm following the herd with this article. Ironic because you'd think innovation wasn't about following the herd... but it actually is. You just need to see where the herd is going before anyone else does...

No-one likes a smarty pants (Be Humble)
You want people to like your ideas. Get them to like you first. The 'arrogant' tag will kill you.

Get money quick (Governance)
Find an autocratic executive sponsor with dedicated budget and an impeccable reputation. Make him/her look good. Repeat.
Present something cool and useful to top level management at least once a month. It had better be good.

Play (Prototype)
Don’t ask. Build prototypes. Scare people. Break things. Create havoc. Do it where the organisation can see you. Screw up. Take accountability. Ask for forgiveness later. Create a fake brand and test your ideas (Wando's?).

Smiling (Networking)
Make friends within the company. It’s much easier to gain acceptance for change when you already have people’s trust.
Make friends with your suppliers. Find out how you can help each other. LISTEN.

Always have free sweets on your desk (Communicate)
Have a full-time person dedicated to communication. Innovation is a holistic process, and communication is vital to its success. Invite and incentivise participation. Blog it. Flickr it.

Sit next to the Nerd/Jock (Don’t separate technology and business innovation)
Business must drive technology innovation. Technologists must educate business. Business must educate technologists.

Rent, don’t buy (Disposable Innovation)
Too many organisations invest in a rigid structures and process for innovation. Intranet portals. Expensive infrastructure. Slow turn-around times. If you can’t show ROI in 3 months, give it away to someone who can concentrate that long.

Invite a boring person to the party (Accounting)
Find someone who can measure innovation on return on effort and ROI. Make sure they speak the CEO’s language. Prepare a monthly report with these numbers.

Learn to count in binary (Do random things)
Randomness breeds creativity. Do something different every day. It's easy.

The good ones are the last four. Also, the most original, I think.

Previous articles on Innovation are here.