There's More to Innovation Than Good Ideas

The article "There's more to Innovation Than Good Ideas", found at BusinessWeek.com, discusses the Air Sandwich and the negative effect it has on an organization. The Air Sandwich occurs when leadership within an organization gives orders to employees far down the chain of command, without the benefit of feedback or questions. The author, Nilofer Merchant, first encountered the problem of the Air Sandwich while she worked for AutoDesk. The CEO at AutoDesk had a plan that would propel the company into the future. This plan included introducing six new product lines into the market within the next 18 months. Merchant had her doubts about the project, but kept her mouth shut, believing the "leaders" would make sure everything went as planned. However, things did not go smoothly as the new products didn't make it to the market for many more years. Many will blame the people within the organization for failures such as this, but there is more to be blamed than just the people. Much of the blame can be placed on the system being used. Merchant has seen the same problem many times over the years while working for several different companies. She says, "We limit participation in strategy creation based on title and rank rather than relevant insight." Merchant believes that companies need to create a shared understanding of what matters and why and also stop rewarding individual accomplishment because it is easier than rewarding co-ownership of the ultimate outcomes. In the long run, failures like this can be very helpful to a company in that it will help them understand the problems involved with their system. After the problems have been addressed, the company can move forward by understanding and correcting these problems.