Innovation is all about uncertainty - no-one knows quite what's around the corner. So there's a limit to how far we can plan to work with it - and instead we need to develop the skills of agility. As this song suggests, it’s a bit like learning to dance....
Dancing at the Innovation Ball
The thing with innovation, this is something you will learn
It never goes the way you want, you’ve got to twist and turn
The road ahead’s uneven, one way streets and plain dead ends
And there’s always something nasty hiding just around the bend!
But there ‘s one thing you can rely on, one thing we know for sure
Innovation’s quite predictable – it follows Murphy’s Law!
Chorus
So be quick on your feet and light on your toes
Learn to do the dance
Going round in circles is just how it goes
When your partner's name is Chance
Three steps forward, two steps back
And don’t forget to turn
Never mind when events try to push you off track
It’s just what you have to learn
It’s no big deal if you trip or you stumble
Don’t be afraid to fall
Intelligent failure’s the name of the game
At the Innovation Ball!
The best laid plans o’ mice and men do oft times gang agley
What the poet, Robbie Burns, was really trying to say
Is that things don’t always work out right, no matter how hard you try
So you need to learn to live with it, instead of asking why….
Of course you need a project plan, of course you need a team
But remember with even the best of these things are never what they seem
Chorus
Learning to dance this waltz might seem as hard as it can be
But if you keep on, persevere, it’s easy as ABC
Fail fast, fail forward, and pivot – capture what you’ve gained
Pick yourself up, dust yourself down and then go round again!
It’s build, test, review, build, test, review, and build, test, review, once more
Never mind if you’re feeling all battered and bruised from all the times you hit the floor!
Chorus
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