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This document is authorized for use only by Nishant Walavalkar in Fall 2017 MIS500 - Innovating with IS taught by Vance Wilson, Worcester Polytechnic Institute from August 2017 to
December 2017.

82 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW WINTER 2012 SLOANREVIEW.MIT.EDU
I N F O R M AT I O N T E C H N O L O G Y
whether the waves they generated were large or
small. In this way, the machine frees capacity to ac-
commodate the most promising among the newest.
Innovating Mindfully — Rather
Than Mindlessly
What lessons follow for the executive who inevita-
bly confronts these waves, one after the other, as his
or her industry is pummeled by the promise of the
new in IT and told that its future hangs in the bal-
ance? The primary lesson lies in recognizing the
differences among the components of a particular
wave complex — discerning, for example, whether
actual adoptions of a new IT measure up to all the
talk about it, or whether adoptions seem to be plen-
tiful enough, but successful implementations are
suspiciously few, or whether anyone is really gain-
ing value from their implementations. An executive
can face each new IT innovation either mindlessly ,
by jumping on an innovation’s bandwagon without
giving much thought to the unique circumstances
of his or her company, or mindfully , taking those
unique circumstances into careful account in de-
ciding whether, when and how to join others in
embracing a given IT innovation. (See “How to
Make Sense of IT Innovation Waves,” p. 80, for a
brief guide to initial questions managers should
ask, along with mindful follow-up questions.)
While it may seem obvious that executives should
proceed mindfully rather than mindlessly, that is
easier said than done.
18
The IT innovation wave ma-
chine presents a powerful institutional force that can
be difficult for an executive to resist. Most executives
would like to be known as innovators. Within the
company, many IT executives can build their profes-
sional reputations by being IT leaders, pushing the
company to embrace technological change rather
than cling to its old ways. And when it becomes ap-
parent that a particular IT innovation seems destined
to sweep the field, few executives want to be in the
position of being left behind, risking the competitive
survival of their company.
As a result, a considerable amount of mindless-
ness in innovating with IT accompanies the workings
of the wave machine. The mindful executive can
achieve advantage for his or her business, not only by
attending to the unique circumstances of his or her
company, but by seeing the mindlessness of others
for what it is. When one’s peers adopt a new IT, do
their reasons for doing so make sense? Do they re-
flect well-considered circumstances of their own,
beyond the boilerplate benefits promised by vendors
and consultants seeking a piece of the action? Asking
such questions can be an important exercise. Where
innovating with IT is concerned, fashion bubbles
form with some regularity, and distinguishing mere
hype from reality remains an especially challenging
task. But those executives who manage their IT in-