Page 218 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

THE POLITICS OF INNOVATION
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within three years." As professor Robert Burgelman of
the Stanford business school points out, the more subtle
threat may be letting the new business go ahead, but set-
ting financial hurdles that require its management to force
it, as a gardener forces flowers. The venture may meet its
targets, but when it needs to take the next step—say, to
introduce a second product—the whole jerry-built struc-
ture collapses.
•The no-special-treatment reflex. We're serious this time,
say the corporate Olympians to the would-be innovator.
We want you to go ahead and act just like an entrepre-
neur. You mean you want me to work unconscionable
hours, alienate others by my unrelenting pursuit of the
dream, and perhaps jeopardize my career? Yes. Well,
how about paying me extra if we hit big, or giving me a
little piece of the action? What, comes back the outraged
response, and screw up our artfully crafted compensa-
tion system?

• They're-not-serious cynicism. After
enough of the above, the company's middle man-
agers, the parties most threatened by innovation, adopt
what Foster calls "cunningly cynical views about top
management's intentions." By the time the brass finally
do get serious, the middlings have persuaded everyone
else not to take the muck-a-mucks at their word.