Survivors of failed IT reorganizations group their lessons into three buckets: innovation, operation/optimization and collaboration. The ability to balance optimization with innovation in every major work process in the enterprise is the sought-for, seldom-achieved goal. For example, airlines have achieved Six Sigma standardization regarding in-air safety but only Two Sigma efficiency for baggage handling.

Most IT organizations structure themselves to give users exactly what they want (that is, they are highly collaborative) at the expense of operational efficiency; undertake experiments at the expense of operational efficiency; or dramatically restrict technology choices and operate highly efficient IT shops at the expense of innovation and collaboration.

According to the best IT shops, you should instead organize to gain control over the IT supply chain. For example, use access to the network as a behavioural modifier to make sure that business units can't do mood-based technology procurement. In that way, off-the-reservation technology doesn't get on the corporate network. However, you must create a visible process for business units to obtain exceptions to enterprise standards.

Finally, you need to formalize the structure for innovation and reward innovative technology ideas emerging from business units.

Thornton May is a long-time industry observer, management consultant and commentator

SIDEBAR: How to Keep Innovation Kicking and How to Kill It

Ten practical steps to keep your innovation system alive and well:

• Remove fear from your organization. Innovation means doing something new, something that may fail. If people fear failing, they will not innovate.

• Make innovation part of the performance review system for everyone. Ask them what they will create or improve in the coming year and then track their progress.

• Document an innovation process and make sure everyone understands it as well as his or her role in it.

• Build in enough looseness into the system for people to explore new possibilities and collaborate with others inside and outside the organization.

• Make sure that everyone understands the corporate strategy and that all innovation efforts are aligned with it. However, also create a process for handling the outlier ideas that don't fit the strategy but are too good to throw away.

• Teach people to scan the environment for new trends, technologies and changes in customer mind-sets.

• Teach people the critical importance of diversity of thinking styles, experience, perspectives and expertise. Expect diversity in all activities related to innovation.

• Good criteria can focus ideation; however, overly restrictive criteria can stifle ideation and perpetuate assumptions and mind-sets from the past. Spend the time necessary upfront to develop market and success-related parameters that will take you into the future.

• Innovation teams are different from "regular" project teams. They need different tools and different mind-sets. Provide enough training and coaching so that when people are working on an innovation team, they can be successful.

• Buy or develop an idea management system that captures ideas in a way that encourages people to build on and evaluate new possibilities.

Ten reasons for innovation failure:

1. Not creating a culture that supports innovation.

2. Not getting buy-in and ownership from business unit managers.

3. Not having a widely understood, system-wide process.

4. Not allocating resources to the process.

5. Not tying projects to company strategy.

6. Not spending enough time and energy on the fuzzy front end.

7. Not building sufficient diversity into the process.

8. Not developing criteria and metrics in advance.

9. Not training and coaching innovation teams.

10. Not having an idea management system.

Joyce Wycoff is the co-founder of the InnovationNetwork, an organization that helps organizations build competency in innovation. She is the author of several books in the field of innovation and creativity including industry standards Mindmapping and To Do . . . Doing . . . Done!. For more information about innovation, please go to www.thinksmart.com