Here are three toxic questions that you probably ask that are guaranteed to kill innovation:
"What is the return on investment on this project?" This question scares innovation team and forces them to tell lies. They simply cannot answer it because it's way too early to know what the ROI will be. So they either make up an answer and stretch the truth, or they throw buckets of speculative financial data at the question and hope no one notices that they aren't answering it.
"Can you prove your case and back it up with hard data?" Ask this question of an innovation team, and they will put all their energy into the wrong areas. They will try hard to extrapolate numbers from market trends and past experience, rather than thinking about customers, good ideas, and new paradigms.
"Are you meeting your milestones?" This question will force an innovation team to abandon anything controversial and go back to the concrete world that they already know. They might get something done, but it won't be innovative. Milestones suit a construction project where you know what you are going to build, but they are inappropriate for an innovation or learning project.
Tomado de @HarvardBiz el 9 de abril de 2011
-- Desde Mi iPad
