Breaking the Rules with Integrity

Steve Boehlke

AAS Imagine ‘09

Where do you look for the inhibitors to innovation?

“There’s a fine line between telling the truth and keeping a project alive.”

“You can work on most anything you want as long as you report it correctly.”

“Strictly speaking you’re breaking the rules. You have to go against the rules to survive and get anything done.”

“Large bureaucratic organizations ask people to be dishonest all the time. This is the biggest de-motivator.”

Empirical data:Out of twenty best practice projects , seven identified within five Swedish companies ranging in size from 100,000 employees to 1,000. Five out of seven projects cited either broke or bent rules.

Olin and Wickenberg, “Rule Breaking in NewProduct Development – Crime or Necessity?” Creativity and Innovation Management Journal, Vol 10, #1, March, 2001

“Research has shown new product development to have several peculiarities. Among these, it is a process characterized by organizational politics…. Abundant anecdotes tell us of defective rule design. Some anecdotes address how deviant rule-following in fact is what keeps business running.”

“Champions (in innovation) are essentially political actors who are not prepared to abide by organizational rules.”

Innovationrequires

rule-breaking.

Power

Passion

Leading at the intersection requires

INTEGRITY

CONFORMANCE

INTEGRATION

Firm adherence to a code,

especially of moral or artistic values.

The quality or state of

being complete or undivided

IF you want innovation…

do not fail to break some

ruleswith integrity!

IMAGINE THAT!