Innovation vs. Quality and Change Management methodologies

Some wonder why we need an innovation initiative while we have many known methodologies related to quality, efficiency and change management (TQM, SixSigma, Change Management, Business Process Reengineering BPR etc.). This is a valid and legitimate question. The answer is simple.

1. All quality initiatives need great ideas to succeed in a distinguished manner. Accordingly they need to include Innovation otherwise the purpose of the initiative will result in an old repeated change with no genuine breakthrough. The result of the change will be minor or a shallow enhancement that doesn’t deserve the effort.

2. Quality and change management initiatives have a start and end that is reached when the original purpose is achieved while Innovation is an ongoing activity that lives in the blood of the organization and focuses on creating, finding and capturing new genuine ideas.

3. Quality initiatives are project based with a time plan where each stage having a limited time to finish. Accordingly the stage when ideas need evaluation the team are limited in time and hardly able to focus idea management issue due to having multiple activities at the same time. This results in lack of a creativity atmosphere. Innovation programs focuses on having a permanent creativity atmosphere that ensures huge amount of ideas are available to select from. Proper attention and enough time are given to evaluate the ideas.

Innovation won’t replace any quality initiatives rather it plays an essential role within these quality initiatives to ensure proper ideas generation and management is done. Innovation initiatives ensure that the culture and the system are innovative. Whatever the organization is after either achieving quality or enhancing something through change or surviving difficult times the most important element is finding the right and best idea. Let us not solve perfectly the wrong problem.

Quality is to do your job in the best way to reach your goal.

Innovation is to do a new thing to reach a higher goal.

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