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Current Boeing CEO James McNerney gave a local speech on his rules of innovation. He knows a little something about the matter as former CEO of 3M. He pointed to 3M’s inability in innovate after the myth of the Post-It took off. 3M fed the flames because it was good for headlines, but in the end it ended up costing the company because everyone was looking at the myth rather than the truth of how Post-Its came to be. It wasn’t a maverick working on his own as the myth often states, but rather a team that worked with the approval of the highest levels of management.

Mcnerney’s 5 rules of innvoation are:

1. Innovation is a team sport, not a solo one.
2. Innovation should occur in all areas of the business, and need not involve high technology.
3. The eureka moment is mostly a fantasy.
4. Innovation ought to be an everyday reality “as well as a fun part of everyone’s job.”
5. You can’t have creativity without discipline, and management plays a key role by allocating resources to the most promising ideas.

He contrasted that to the 5 myths that sprung up around the Post-It discovery.

1. Innovation requires an iconoclastic, crusading researcher.
2. Innovation is all about technology.
3. Innovators must go, Star-Trek-like, where no one has gone before.
4. Innovation requires serendipity, accident or luck.
5. Discipline and creativity are mortal enemies; the suits must get out of the scientists’ way. .

I think both sets of “rules” are dangerous. A flexible approach is best on the maverick vs. team issue. There are those that work best as part of a team and those that work best on their own. Luck is often involved in innovation, as are accidents. Not always, of course, but many times serendiptious moments lead to innovation. Trying to kill those moments are just as bad as relying upon them.