Change (Foreword, first published in TWELWE #2, 2016)

That’s what innovation is all about. Creating new markets, inventing new products and developing new experiences and universes around them. We need to change somethingto create innovation. We need to break the habits we have formed, find the courage to take new steps, convince our peers and inspire the people around us to follow. And we need to invest. Change comes at a price. It is an important investment – and one that will increase in value over time.

If we want to get fit, we need to change how we eat and exercise. We do this by developing an attitude, committing to the cause, creating routines by having healthy food accessible and keeping track of our activities. If we want to change our organisations, we need to do the same. We will have to invest time in finding new processes to recognise potential (attitude). We need to invent new positions and new ways of filling them (commitment). And create space and time for the processes to grow and become feasible (routine).

In short, if we want to create change, we will have to change with it.

When our investment is carefully managed, well communicated and organically grown rather than suddenly forced, it yields the most. The organisations of the future know this –and many have already taken steps to make sure that their companies will always be changing. Branching out and creating new services in sub-departments that, in turn, become the new focus. Creating space for innovation is what it’s all about.