Human beings have been innovating throughout the entirety of documented history. The idea of documenting history is an innovation in itself… even if the pioneers of the idea didn’t realize it at the time. Each piece of the past hints that humanity has always been shaping itself. From carvings in stone to written correspondence, there has always been the need to sculpt the world in a way that hadn’t been thought of before. 

Innovation occurs for a variety of reasons. It is arguably an innate part of human nature, but it is more likely occurring due to a desire for growth or in response to external pressures. In any case, it is a new perspective that institutes some sort of change. But what happens when an organization fails to consider all of the possible impacts their innovations will have on themselves, their company, and society as a whole? Last week, I attended a panel discussion on innovation featuring four creative minds from varying backgrounds. Each individual produced a unique perspective on innovation, but they all seemed to gravitate toward a particular topic: What happens when innovation gains momentum and builds upon itself? 

Panel member Katie Richie shared her experience. Katie is the Partnership Manager for the Gathering Place, a nonprofit park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Gathering Place aims to serve as a cornerstone for the community and support the mission of equal opportunity for all. Katie was a member of the opening team for the project. The work she contributed helped launch the idea of the park into its current physical state. Since the Gathering Place is unique, there was nothing to compare it to and no way to predict the outcome. The opening team only had the context of their community and their collective goals to guide them. 

It can easily be said that the city of Tulsa has a broken history, particularly when it comes to race. One mission the Gathering Place set out to accomplish was to find a way to fill those cracks in Tulsa’s foundation.

“Diversity was not a thing that was celebrated [in Tulsa]… the Gathering Place was a really unique opportunity to find a way to MEND that… but because of the location of the Gathering Place, that mend was a lot more difficult than expected.”

Katie explained that the Gathering Place is situated in a fairly affluent neighborhood in Tulsa, which initially made it feel like the park wasn’t for everyone. The team quickly worked against this narrative.

“So the immediate idea for that was to host different cultural events that felt like an open invitation to different areas of the community… The [other] solution was to include people based on demographics other than race and culture. So maybe we host a painting class or a fitness class… and we saw that be wildly successful with our five-year anniversary celebration.”

This is an example of innovation being used to combat an existing issue and work towards some sort of change. The team was able to adapt to the problems they faced by developing creative solutions. However, Katie also informed us of an instance in which the team implemented an innovation before fully considering the potential outcomes. 

“I think another huge challenge in innovation is the momentum of it. You can get so excited around the momentum at the beginning of an innovative idea that you don’t think in the long term…” 

“…When our park opened, we decided to do 100 days of events. It was the big kickoff… all of these things had momentum and a beautiful community impact… but what does this mean for our employees? Do we have the staff to work 100 days of events? What does the turnover look like during this period? What does this mean that we’ve now establish a community expectation… but will we have the budget long term to support an expectation like that?”

This perfectly encompasses the idea of innovation spurring innovation. The team at the Gathering Place created a beautiful idea and enacted it; however, it created unexpected shockwaves. To set a precedent and go from daily events to less frequent events could have created a natural void of energy and community engagement. While the innovation was positive, it pushed the organization towards a system they weren’t sure they were prepared to support. 

“So however excited you are to get the needle moving, make sure you have just as much bandwidth to actually follow through on moving it, or else that’s a really quick way for innovation to die and for those new ideas to not get to come to life.” 

Ultimately, the 100 days of events was a huge achievement for the park and fast-tracked the Gathering Place to success. The challenges presented spurred the team toward even greater innovation. Luckily this scenario was a positive one, but Katie’s story sparked a conversation among the panelists. If this had occurred on a greater scale with a larger margin of error, how devastating could the resulting impacts be? 

The truth is, that scenario is happening on a larger scale right this moment with the development of Artificial Intelligence. Ashley Coffey, the CEO of Coffey & Consult, added her input on the topic of AI: 

“Can you try to excel toward innovation too quickly?… These companies, and the world right now, are racing towards innovation without asking the questions of impact on humanity…as we interact with these tools that are innovative, [we need] to ask ourselves what are we trying to accomplish? What is the long-term impact?”

This is not to say that technological advances are not useful. Each panel member was able to provide an example of technology having a direct positive effect on their organizations. It certainly is a helpful tool. The problem stems not from the application of the tool but from the lack of understanding of its implications. 

This collection of stories gives context to the purpose of innovation.  Human-kind has used innovation as a direct source of growth and problem-solving for centuries. In turn, varying reactions to innovative implementations can push even greater change as a result. Being able to consider the results of varying perspectives before enacting a new plan helps to prevent unwanted or adverse outcomes. If society as a whole cannot slow down and consider the implications of emerging innovations, then there is no way to measure the threats that loom. The opposing forces of the desire to change and the ability to do so should not outweigh each other; rather, approaches to problem-solving through innovation should be seen as an equilibrium, carefully balanced to support our collective humanity.