James March's Quote on Innovation: One More Time

I don't usually post the same quote twice in a row, but the strong reaction I am getting to my arguments about "Why Creativity and Innovation Suck" have convinced me that ought to put up Jim March's quote one more time.  I urge anyone interested in innovation to read it carefully, as it is perhaps the most wise thing I've ever read on the subject. I am also repeating the quote because I fear that I've not made my main point clear enough: Yes, we need innovation and creativity; organizations can't survive without it, and life would be far too dull without a constant influx of new idea and the associated hope of a better future. BUT just as doctors are obligated to tell patients about the risks and side effects of treatments, people who "sell" innovation ought to tell their "customers" about the hazards of living in a creative organization or the financial risks of launching a new product or company. The evidence about such drawbacks is, after all, quite clear -- it helps the system, but many individual innovators suffer in the process. Similarly, I think that people who sell management ideas like Six Sigma and forced-ranking incentive schemes are under a similar obligation to talk about downsides and risks, and few of them talk about the drawbacks --so this isn't just about creativity and innovation.

Back to Jim March. He is arguably the most prestigious living organizational theorist, and as you can see, quite eloquent. Note that what he is saying is supported by a large body of research, and that he does talk about "gains" from imagination -- and there many gains and advantages.  But unlike most people who write about innovation and creativity in organizations, he talks about the risks and delusions too. Again, the quote: 

"Unfortunately, the gains for imagination are not free. The protections for imagination are indiscriminate. They shield bad ideas as well as good ones—and there are many more of the former than the latter. Most fantasies lead us astray, and most of the consequences of imagination for individuals and individual organizations are disastrous. Most deviants end up on the scrap pile of failed mutations, not as heroes of organizational transformation. . . . There is, as a result, much that can be viewed as unjust in a system that induces imagination among individuals and individual organizations in order to allow a larger system to choose among alternative experiments. By glorifying imagination, we entice the innocent into unwitting self-destruction (or if you prefer, altruism)."

P.S The talk that this quote was taken from was originally given by Jim March at the Academy of Management Meetings in Vancouver in 1995. It was ultimately published as March. J. G., “ The Future, Disposable Organizations, and the Rigidities of Imagination”, in The Pursuit of Organizational Intelligence, ed. J. G. March, (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1999): 179-192. The above quote is somewhat different in the final version, but I prefer the original from his conference presentation.

 

Comments

[Mark Howell]

I love the fact that he warns about the potential downside while acknowledging the potential upside. Maybe it all goes back to the importance of clarifying expectations on the front end; a call for truth in advertising. This is an important word for all of us in the business of helping organizations advance. Thanks for reposting the quote!

[Bill Burnett]

It seems every company I have worked for in the past 20 years had a forced ranking system. I have hated these from the beginning, because I believe in clear measurable goals that deliver what the company needs, and if a unit beats that goal, and it is a team effort how can you fairly credit only 20% of the people. However, in turning around a unit at BofA in San Francisco years ago, I did get an exception from HR and the 60 staff members in the unit earned rankings as exceptional or outstanding (the top 2 of a 5 level ranking). I describe why in my blog (link above) of November 13, 2007 Blog, "Adults Manage Themselves"