I’ve been in a meeting in which the question is being asked: “if we all agree that something is broken, but the system is highly regulated, how do we change it?”. Â You might guess that we’re talking about the system for development and evaluation of medical products. Â Our society cannot afford the cost, redundancy and bureaucracy that we have built into the system.
Several of the talks have focused on theories related to how organizations of all types foster innovation. In this context, an invention is something new, while innovation is taking a new concept or a series of concepts and creating something that is widely used in society.
In brief, the larger the organization, the more likely that it will stifle innovation, partly because peoples’ jobs become dependent on following the rules, while innovation requires a desire to change the rules. Â So, most disruptive innovation comes from outside the established system, while incremental innovation can happen within organizations. However, both require leadership that is willing to take risk in the short term in order to achieve long-term benefit.
My hope for DTMI and its DCRI component has been that it could be the source of incremental innovation in practice, but that it would also be a breeding grounds for disruptive thinkers who might figure out how to change the fundamental basis for the way we do our work.
Of course, this has to be done while we adhere to rules and regulations in the way we do our usual daily work–this is a tall order!
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