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A Definition of Innovation Trauma
By: James A Gardner
The idea that innovation must always be speculative and risky is often an indicator that an organization has experienced innovation trauma to some degree in the past.
Innovation trauma occurs whenever an organization tries to do something new and fails so badly at it that everyone decides the only safe course for the future is a return to business as usual. The result is organizations stagnate because they are so fearful they'll repeat their previous errors.
Signs of innovation trauma include unwillingness to invest outside existing business lines, disbelief that a company can be innovative, and skepticism that delivery capability is up to the task of doing new things.
Sun Micrososystems are an excellent example of a company that has suffered innovation trauma. Sun created an innovative new product it called "SunRay". Essentially, it was a network computer that promised to reduce significantly the costs of big corporate IT. It would be simpler, easier to use, and much more flexible than any available alternative.
When SunRay eventually shipped it did none of these things. But customers had already made plans based on future promises from the company, and they turned on their account managers. Feeling the pain directly in the pocket, the salespeople of Sun demanded that from then on they be given evidence that products were fit for purpose. They insisted that they'd not be embarrassed in front of their customers again by "innovation", and Sun was hamstrung for years afterward.
No matter if there are signs of innovation trauma or not, it is almost always the case that employees have a hard time believing that innovation can create decent returns predictably. More often than not they have to be shown it is possible to do so.
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