How does innovation happen?

3M is widely regarded as one of the most innovative companies – massively diversified and very product oriented. While re-reading Lean Software Development this weekend, I found these sayings from an early leader of 3M, William McKnight:

“Hire good people, and leave them alone.”

“If you put fences around people, you get sheep. Give people the room they need.”

“Encourage, don’t nitpick. Let people run with an idea.”

“Give it a try—and quick!”

And my personal favourite:

“As our business grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to delegate responsibility and to encourage men and women to exercise their initiative. This requires considerable tolerance. Those men and women, to whom we delegate authority and responsibility, if they are good people, are going to want to do their jobs in their own way. Mistakes will be made. But if a person is essentially right, the mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell those under their authority exactly how they must do their jobs.”