Innovation vs. Working the Plan

There are two kinds of leaders. 

There are leaders who look toward the future and ask, “What’s next?” And there are leaders focused on the present and ask, “How can we get better?

Granted, leaders probably have a mixture of both but my experience is that typically people lean more toward one over the other. Personally, I’ve always been more comfortable with the “What’s next?” question. The organizational world is littered with stories of groups resistant to change. Those stories usually never end well. As a result, I have an almost paranoid fear of sitting still, organizationally speaking. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As Andy Grove of Intel has said, “Only the paranoid survive.”

However, there’s a hidden, dark side to innovation. It’s called over-reaching. Sometimes, it happens when a leader or leaders get bored. They simply get tired of doing the same thing over and over again (even if they do it really well), and so in their boredom they grasp for the next “big thing.” This is very dangerous.

Sometimes, the most innovative thing you can do is to simply work the plan. If your strategy is right and you are meeting a core need, work the plan. Sure, ask the tough questions. Invite scrutiny. Be open to all ideas.

But if your strategy is sound and your execution is strong, do yourself a favor.

Work the plan.

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