A Means, Not an End

Read enough innovation literature and you can come away with a subtly wrong impression: that the goal of innovation is simply to be innovative - as if innovation were valuable in and of itself. It is not. This is the single most important principle for an innovation practitioner to internalise: businesses should never treat innovation as an end in itself.

The dog chasing its tail

Pursuing innovation solely to be - or appear - "innovative" is a gross misappropriation of effort and resources. It generally produces disappointing results: a flurry of activity, hackathons and buzzwords, but little real advance for the business. Like the proverbial dog chasing its tail, there is lots of motion and no progress. The antidote is simple to state and hard to practise: always tie innovation back to a strategic goal.

Why this matters so much

When innovation is treated as an end, it becomes unaccountable - impossible to prioritise, measure, or defend when budgets tighten. When it is treated as a means to specific strategic goals, everything clarifies: you know what to pursue, how to measure it, and why it deserves investment. Every credible innovation effort should be able to finish the sentence: "We are doing this in order to achieve ___."