Phil Cooke provides this slightly sarcastic but painfully true look at innovation:
Josh Craft showed me this chart of the steps people go through with innovation and I have to admit, it’s spot on. I’ve seen this exact sequence play out so many times it’s not funny, but it’s worth repeating. The next time you want to make real change happen in your organization, get ready to experience this sequence:
1. People deny that the innovation is required.
2. People deny that the innovation is effective.
3. People deny that the innovation is important.
4. People deny that the innovation will justify the effort required to adopt it.
5. People accept and adopt the innovation, enjoy its benefits, attribute it to people other than the innovator, and deny the existence of stages 1 to 4.
(Inspired by Alexander von Humboldt’s ‘Three Stages Of Scientific Discovery’, as referenced by Bill Bryson in his book, ‘A Short History Of Nearly Everything’.)
