Acronym

Jeff De Cagna takes Associations Now to task with a post on his Principled Innovation blog. As usual, Jeff offers well-reasoned and thoughtful points, almost all of which I agree with. But I do disagree with his characterization of the "Calculated Leaps of Faith" article in the October issue.

First of all, the article isn't about innovation per se. Everything that Jeff says about innovation being a discipline for organizations to practice in the many posts on his blog and in the several articles he's written for us over the years is heady stuff that I'd advise association leaders to listen to and try to implement.

The article is about seeing the need for a massive course correction and having the determination and courage to act. The word "innovation" appears once in the article, in a way that I believe is consistent with the notion of an organization practicing the discipline of innovation:

Building an organization that thrives on calculated risks requires a variety of ingredients. Among them are a seasoned and courageous CEO, thorough research and planning of "risky" endeavors, the ability to predict change, a board and staff team that is encouraged to embrace and cultivate innovation, and, perhaps most importantly, a plan for getting from Point A to Point B.

Angela Brady, the author of the piece, is saying that the innovation discipline is one of several interconnected qualities that risk-taking organizations need to have if they are to be successful.

Jeff seems to especially bristle at the notion of "faith." I would argue that short of clairvoyance, every decision is a leap of faith. The pool at the bottom could very well be 6 inches or 20 feet. The article is about doing what you can to ensure before you leap that you're aiming for the 20-foot pool, but you never really know for sure. What you do know for sure is that the wild animal that chased you to the cliff means certain annihilation.

A final point: Sometimes, the best thing that can happen is to smack into the 6-inch pool, blow the organization apart, and piece together the parts that will enable you to soar from there.