What organization on the planet would be crazy enough to say "We absolutely do not, under any circumstances, want to innovate! Innovation is a threat to our culture, to our belief system, and to our fundamental operating principles and practices!" Yet organizations both consciously and unconsciously say "NO!" to innovation each and every day. How can this be?

In addition to close-minded leaders and teams, nothing will suck the life blood out of innovation quicker than bureaucracy. There, I've said it! In an attempt to turn chaos into calm, an inordinate number of organizational hurdles and obstacles have been implemented with great intentions, but with disastrous and oftentimes unintended consequences. As a result, laborious decision-making frameworks and policies continue to exert a stranglehold on organizations. Put another way, "Bureaucracy is the technology of control. It is ideologically and practically opposed to disorder and irregularity.