Leading for innovation is hard, not least because innovation often makes demands that defy logic and order. You have to follow the technology, yet imagine the not yet created; listen to customers and create what they’ll want tomorrow; manage the process yet dare to dream.
Professor Alf Rehn has spent a lot of time studying the paradoxes of both leadership and innovation, and in his AMA he outlined why innovation leaders will always partially fail, but also why this can be a good thing. The paradox can’t be solved, but you can still ride the wave.
Alf Rehn is the professor of innovation, design, and management at the University of Southern Denmark, and in addition a globally recognized thought-leader in innovation, creativity, and leadership. As an author and keynote speaker he challenges taken-for-granted notions in the business realm, and has written several well-received books on these topics, such as Innovation for the Fatigued – How To Build a Culture of Deep Creativity (Kogan Page).
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