True innovation creators are often Mavericks. They do not abide by the rules. They are independent in their thinking and their actions. And they show it. If they are encouraged to come up with innovative ideas, and they are provided with a mechanism for gaining a broad understanding of the challenges facing an organization, they are likely to come up with innovations that impact on the way other people work. A mechanic on an assembly line can show the engineers what is wrong with their design and how to fix it. A bright assistant trader can write a macro that automates the back-office reconciliation team out of a job.

Innovation creators threaten the established order.

Creating an emergent organization, which generates constant innovation requires executives to think about how the organization can build up a level of trust necessary for an organization to be able to absorb constant change and growth.

There are three separate trust issues.

1. The leaders of groups must be open to input from other areas of the organization. They must learn to trust that the input represents helpful advice and constructive criticism, and not a personal attack.
2. All members of the organization must trust that they will be taken care of in the face of change.
3. The innovation creators themselves must trust they will be recognized and rewarded for their efforts.

Getting an organization culturally prepared for constant innovation is just as important as building the mechanism to facilitate that innovation.

During a recent consulting engagement, I had the opportunity to meet an IT engineer in London who was clearly prepared to succeed in this kind of environment. My firm had been hired by his company to completely re-think all their current operations and support areas. In the end, our recommendations to the CEO called for a new COO position to be created, and suggested the company think about completely changing the way its operations and support areas were structured, with significant out-sourcing. All the development work this engineer was doing would be rendered irrelevant; it was to be replaced by out-sourced solutions and / or off the shelf software solutions. This engineer was delighted to consider all these options. He was interested in how best to help his company build a global operations platform that would support their growth objectives. He approached the problems with bold confidence, knowing that, under all circumstances, he continued to have a future with the company. He knew that his very participation in the process of innovation guaranteed him a continued position with the company. He was a relatively junior person, but he saw the value he added to company on a strategic level. He trusted that he would be taken care of in the face of change, and he knew he would be recognized and rewarded for coming up with innovative ideas.

Fostering trust and positive cultural attitudes towards Maverick innovators are necessary requirements for creating an emergent organization that generates constant innovation.