Progress vs Innovation

I’ve observed a common tug-of-war situation within myself.

The logical part of me wants to just put my head down, work with the knowledge and situation at hand, and push progress.

The less logical, more excited part of me wants to just torch everything that has been done, rebuild with a new awareness, and innovate something that will have a better foundation and avoid the problems I currently face.

Honestly, I think both have equal merit and value.

Business needs to move forward. Progress needs to be made to ensure value is delivered and you stay afloat.

However, innovations are what help you leap forwards rather than staying stuck in the same loop.

So, how can you effectively have both?

Ultimately, I think it comes down to establishing correct boundaries.

Here’s how it works for myself:

1. I hear about a new technology, process, or perspective I really want to play with and could have a fantastic impact on some of my clients.
2. I refrain from pitching it to my clients and instead continue with the strategic direction we’d originally agreed to.
3. I either take on a small greenfield project or build an internal tool where the new idea can be explored and validated.
4. If the idea has real value, I’ll examine whether the idea will help my clients’ current objectives. If and only if the idea will bring real value to my client, I’ll bring it up. Otherwise, I’ll stick with the direction we’ve previously set.

This helps prevent me from going “bandwagon loco” with clients while also ensuring I stay up to date with the most relevant advances.

Do you lean one way? And how do you ensure that both progress and innovation happen?