This article was first published in Harvard Business Review and is available via subscription.
Many companies—particularly large established ones—try to force innovation on to metaphorical assembly lines and tightly manage it. But the story of the like button demonstrates the social, serendipitous, evolutionary, and iterative nature of innovation and holds key lessons for managers seeking a better way to encourage and harness innovation.
Martin Reeves and Bob Goodson point to good reasons why leaders should revise their innovation practices to reflect this reality. Growth rates are trending down in most economies, putting greater emphasis on the need for new ideas. And a return to higher interest rates means that innovations need to perform better to be financially viable. To help managers adopt a new approach, the authors present five ways to improve innovation models and practices.