By: Kumar Dattatreyan

Look, we need an intervention about your organization's "innovation initiative." You know the one - it's gathering dust right next to that expensive ping pong table nobody uses and the "culture values" poster that's slightly askew. Don't feel bad - you're in good company. Most organizations are starring in their own version of "Groundhog Day: The Corporate Edition," where every few months someone declares, "This time we're REALLY going to innovate!"

After interviewing dozens of leaders and innovators on the Meridian Point podcast, I've noticed something fascinating: the most innovative companies often don't have innovation departments, chief innovation officers, or even use the word "innovation" more than twice per century.

The Most Innovative Companies Don't Talk About Innovation

Take Buurtzorg, this Dutch healthcare company that's absolutely crushing it. They have 9,000 nurses and only 50 people in administration. That's not a typo. While most healthcare organizations are building organizational charts that look like a game of Jenga gone wrong, these folks decided to just... let nurses make decisions. Revolutionary, right?

Or consider Disney (yes, the mouse house). Former Disney exec Vance Morris shared how they give front-line employees significant spending authority to solve customer problems. No "let me check with my manager's manager's manager who needs to consult with a committee." Just "You have a problem? Let's fix it."

Why Your Innovation Program Probably Isn't Working

Here's the thing - you can't schedule innovation like it's a dental cleaning. "Okay team, we'll innovate every second Tuesday from 2-4 PM, right after the budget meeting." Yet that's exactly what many organizations try to do.

The most naturally innovative organizations I've talked to share three traits, and none of them involve purchasing expensive software or hiring consultants (sorry, consultants):

1. They're Obsessed With Their Customers (But Not in a Creepy Way)
• They actually talk to customers (shocking, I know)
• They let the people doing the work make decisions
• They measure success by customer happiness, not PowerPoint metrics
2. They Trust People to Not Be Idiots
• Radical concept: The person doing the job might know something about it
• They push decisions down to where the work happens
• They have fewer managers than a squirrel has investment accounts
3. Their Leaders Actually Lead (Instead of Just Managing)
• They create clarity about what needs to be done (not how to do it)
• They remove obstacles instead of creating them
• They measure success by how little their teams need them

The Real Talk Section

Here's what nobody wants to admit: Most innovation programs fail not because people don't want to innovate, but because:

• We make it too formal ("Please fill out this 47-page innovation request form")
• We separate it from regular work ("That's an innovation task, not a regular task")
• We forget that humans need to actually enjoy doing things to keep doing them

So What Should You Do?

1. Stop Creating Innovation Programs Instead, remove the things that stop people from solving problems creatively. You probably already have innovative people - they're the ones cursing under their breath about "how we've always done it."
2. Push Decisions Down The person closest to the work should make the call. If you're more than one "let me check with..." away from a decision, you're doing it wrong.
3. Make Leaders Earn Their Keep Their job isn't to tell people how to do things - it's to make sure people have what they need to do things well. If your leaders are creating more problems than they're solving, you might have the wrong leaders.

The Bottom Line

Stop treating innovation like it's a corporate wedding - something you have to plan for months and spend too much money on. Treat it like breakfast - something you do every day without making a big deal about it.

Look at Raciel Castillo's RC Technologies - they're revolutionizing carbon capture technology not because they have an innovation program, but because they're obsessed with solving real problems. Or Chris Daily's high school students developing AI applications that put some corporate tech teams to shame - not because they followed a framework, but because they were given clear goals and the freedom to achieve them.

The next time someone in your organization suggests creating an innovation task force, maybe suggest removing a few layers of approval instead. You might be surprised at what people can do when you just get out of their way.

Remember: If you need to put the word "innovation" in your job title, you might be doing it wrong.

Want to learn more about breaking free from innovation theater? Check out the Meridian Point podcast, where we talk to people who are actually doing cool stuff instead of just talking about it.