The Corporate 'Poke'-Innovation

Key to innovation lies in desperation. You need to be desperate to innovate. Example in point, The World Wars.

How do you bring this desperation in the corporate culture? It can’t be overt. Employee well-being is our topmost priority right after customer well-being which obviously is just after investor well-being. So, it has to be covert.

The question now that presents itself is what should the employees be made desperate about? Job security? Too much out there even covertly. So, let’s think opposite. Job promotions. But with a twist. See job promotions basis appeasement of the seniors. And the human nature by itself adds a twist - it’s easier to appease by pushing other people down with a little bit of one’s own merit rather than wholly by one’s own merit. All we have to ensure is there is always some employee being appreciated infront of the others in a round robin manner.

And hola ! We have our corporate version of Facebook’s ‘Poke’. People going around poking each other, making each other desperate and thus, driving innovation.

Agreed that this innovation is only a fraction of innovation completely basis merit. But the latter is like a spark of a gigantic fire rather a slow burning eternal fire which the former is. In simpler terms, it keeps the water boiling. Enabling the latter may lead to stagnation once the spark dies down but the former keeps the engine of ‘Capitalism’ running forever and ever.