Page 158 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

5.

Innovating for

the Future

The enterprise that does not innovate ages and declines. And in a period of
rapid change such as the present, the decline will be fast.
—Peter Drucker

Throughout this book we’ve offered ways for you as a leader to look ahead:
whether you’re setting a vision, crafting a competitive strategy, developing
your team, or demanding better results, you are constantly pushing your
team, unit, or organization into the future. In this chapter, we’ll focus on
how to establish the mechanisms and culture of innovation that increase
the chances for growth and sustained performance over time.
Organizations that sustain their success consistently over the long
term can be hard to find. Consider the experience of the Ford Motor Com-
pany. The iconic company struggled with years of red ink until the early
1990s, when its management revitalized product development, reawakened
the organization’s deeper purpose, and produced what Collins and Porras