Barnabas File

When I talk with church people about innovation, there is a natural resistance or push-back, but I try to point out that the reason that the Christian movement has not only survived but prospered over the years is the willingness of believers to learn, grow, and innovate.  Sometimes our sources for innovation are found not in the church but in our culture. In her new book, The New Science of Radical Innovation , Sunnie Giles identifies principles that Silicon Valley companies (such as Google) and Artificial Intelligence software programs use to succeed or win.  Here is each of the principles she identified at Google. First, employ self-organizing agents.  The goal is to “hire the best people and get out of their way.”   At Google, managers are urged to delegate as much as possible to the point of feeling some level of discomfort.  The company even encourages employees to spend 20 percent of their time working on what they think will benefit Goo...

Once upon a time, I worked for an organization that wanted to provide a creative environment where employees were encouraged to work together to design innovative ways to improve what they provided to the constituency.  Some would call this a learning organization.  Perhaps I should say, I worked for an organization whose leader wanted to provide that type of culture.  When he left, everything changed. What does it take to be the leader of an organization that empowers everyone to be innovative while pursuing the mission of the organization?  Let me suggest several things. First, the leader must understand the mission of the organization and clearly articulate it.  When the leader is uncertain about the reason the organization exists, she or he can only send an uncertain message about what is important and why.  The leader embraces the mission of the organization or finds a way to keep it before employees. Second, the leader must care about...