| No matter what innovations your organization has | | | | do this, though it presents significant difficulties for |
| decided to pursue, and regardless of the innovation | | | | innovators, whose whole role is to create valuable, |
| strategy you're following, there will always come a | | | | productive change. |
| point where innovators need to deal with their | | | | In information technology organizations, there will likely |
| information technology cousins. | | | | be change teams, in fact, whose sole role in life is to |
| Technology is at the center of most production and | | | | make it as hard as possible to change anything. They |
| productivity in many industries, from those dominated | | | | will rationalize their existence using lines such as "we |
| by industrial age economics to the emerging innovation | | | | are here to protect service" or "up-time is our number |
| economy companies that are presently leading the | | | | one priority". And for those times when change is |
| charge to recovery. | | | | impossible to avoid there will be a number of gates |
| As a result, information technology can be considered | | | | and governance processes in places designed to |
| either a necessary evil that prevents things getting | | | | make things as difficult as possible. At least, from the |
| done or, alternatively, a massive enabler of competitive | | | | perspective of innovators, that is. |
| advantage and worker productivity. Perspectives vary | | | | For most innovation teams, rigorous focus on the |
| depending on the way an IT organization deals with | | | | disciplines of innovation management are a positive |
| change on a day to day basis. | | | | way to manage the technologists in organizations. |
| No matter the perception of the information technology | | | | They provide tools and processes which are able to |
| group, there is a key thing that those responsible for | | | | demonstrate to IT professionals that the changes the |
| innovation will find very hard to avoid: the extreme | | | | innovators want to do are in both the interests of the |
| emphasis that most IT professionals place on | | | | organization, and, more often than not, in the interests |
| minimizing change. There are excellent reasons they | | | | of IT as well. |