ABSTRACT
Change is difficult. As human beings, we like our comfort zone and the safety of our old habits. Some of you might disagree. We are not all the same. Some feel the fire of innovation burning inside them, some like to think outside the box and continuously come up with new ideas. Nevertheless, we all – even those who feel the fire burning – agree that change is tiresome. This book is not about envisioning innovation, this book is about transforming people to make innovation happen. Traditional change management theories posit that people are unwilling to change when innovation is introduced. We find this statement not to be true: people want to innovate, to the extent that they find meaning in what they do. Still, what we see is that it is difficult for people to embrace change and start enacting new behaviors. This book is about helping people embrace change through new behaviors, building something positive that does not concern illness or burning places.
Our approach builds on two goals. First, we want to generate real change, not just ideas. Second, we want to build on the positive side of innovation, leaving aside any negative metaphors of innovation as a scaring, intimidating yet an inevitable problem to an opportunity for growth and prosperity. Indeed, we believe in three pillars: innovation as meaning, design as engagement, and leadership as community.
