Clarity accelerates and sustains innovation

Innovation is often talked about as important, but actual clarity about it is lacking. This article argues that executives, managers, and employees need to work together to define the innovation process, budget, rewards, and recognition. This requires communication about goals, willingness to bear risk, and timeframes. Without clarity, innovation efforts are likely to fail and small failures will not be addressed, leading to missed learning opportunities. Clarity in innovation requires clear communication, definition of budgets and staffing, rewards and recognition, and active seeking of wild ideas and customer feedback.