Innovation was the theme of the Code Freeze 2008 conference last week. Mark Striebeck talked about innovation strategy at Google, Jon Spence explained how Agile methods were introduced at Medtronic, Jamie Thingelstad touched on innovation in product development at Dow Jones. Then after lunch, we had the pleasure to listen to Stuart Halloway, Nate Schutta, and David Hussman.
Most of the ideas discussed are common sense, but one point is interesting to think about. Jamie said that leadership by committee does not work. I tend to agree with this statement. I also trust Jamie's judgement - his organization managed to keep its innovative culture and efficient development environment through a number of merges and acquisitions. But I just keep wondering...
One of the responsibilities of a strong leader is to build a strong coalition to support her or his ideas and lead this coalition as a team to make the change and innovation happen. Could that result in leadership by committee?