I liked this article a lot because I've just came to the same realization a few days ago. To encourage innovation you have to have a culture that encourages it

I liked this article a lot because I've just came to the same realization a few days ago. To encourage innovation you have to have a culture that encourages it ... that puts the emphasis on doing amazing things instead of not fucking up. Big companies are all about not fucking up, and when there is a fuck up, bending someone over the barrel for it, so that it never happens again ... which is why they are places where innovation goes to die. I mean why would you attempt some crazy initiative when you'd just get dinged/fired if it didn't work out. Google's masterstroke was is in empowering people to try new things without fear of failure with their 20% rule. So whenever somebody asks how you/they can be innovative ... what they really should be asking is "how can we give people who work there, the freedom to try new things without fear of failure". Any organizations that will do whatever it takes to possess that culture will generally succeed at this 'innovation' thing.