The Sparrow or the June Bug

Many leaders in industry view innovation like a sparrow. They are enamoured with the flight of the sparrow and bring it into their organization. When they get it there, they wrap it in layers of control and required reports and program managers. These are just like squeezing the sparrow in your hands. After a short while they look again at the sparrow and it's lifeless and won't fly again. They should treat it like I used to treat june bugs as a boy. I'd catch a June bug and tie some of my mom's fine thread around one leg. Then I'd fly him around the yard like a kite. He had enough freedom to fly but not enough to escape. If you hold your innovative people too tightly, you only succeed in squeezing the life out of them.