Some organizations are in a state of procrastination about Innovation. They really mean to do it…someday.

“It’s really our intention, next quarter, err, actually, we mean next year,” says the beleaguered innovation director.

This is “Innavoidance”. I’ve coined this term.

Inavoidance defined in Fraley’s Funky & Wagnally New School Dictionary: INaVOYdanz — a persistent cultural lack of innovation work, process and action, nascent creativity, like procrastination, except specific to new product, service, or business development.

Note that inside the new word is “navo” which in Latin means “to do with zeal,” and “dance” — the joyful act of doing the peppermint twist, or watusi. Sadly, both of these positive connotations are negated by the “void” in the middle.

Bottom line, Innovoidance means no Innovation happens.

Innavoidance occurs in organizations that focus on operations and don’t prime the innovation pipeline with new ideas, prototypes, product tests, and market introductions. It’s particularly prevalent in companies with no formal innovation system.

Why do people Innavoid?

Culturally it’s easy to understand why organizations, and people inside those groups, avoid innovation. It’s hard, complicated, hairy, risky, impossible work. And at times it seems like, as Freddie Prinz might have said in Chico and the Man — “ees not my yob.”

Well, yes it eez.

Innovation is everybody’s job, at least part of it, and all the time. Now, not every line worker is expected to go home at night and draft a new product blueprint. Not everybody has those chops. Neither is it every middle managers job to halt the presses every time an interesting idea pops up. But the line worker who has ideas should be welcomed. And the line worker should welcome new ideas, despite the challenges that presents. Middle manager types need to make time (it should be integrated) to think and perform his or her part on day to day innovation work — right along with everything else they have to do. Thinking or talking about innovation without doing it is…Innavoidance!

As for leadership, well, if you don’t let folks know your expectations for integrating innovation in all you do, you shouldn’t be in leadership.

Innovation, and not Innavoidance, is what prevents the diseases of Pinkslivoypance and Chapthirteenaria.

Sorry, two new words too far, but I hope you take my point.

Innavoidance is to be avoided. Perhaps we can steal a page from Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now — and InnNOWVate — don’t innavoid.

Really sorry.

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PS: If you want to give a creative book for Christmas or another holiday, you might consider my book — Jack’s Notebook, a business novel about creative problem solving.

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