Summary
Mission-driven organizations and teams are powerful and important because they’re people-focused and purpose-driven. But that focus can make them resistant to change and innovation, especially around systems and processes.
In many orgs I’ve worked with, the mission takes priority, and suggestions to change how things work is seen as too risky even when the potential payoff might be huge.
Here’s how I approach leading innovation in those environments without losing focus on the mission.
1. Connect the tech to the mission
One of the biggest misses I see: technical teams operating higher up in the org roll out a new tool or process without explaining why it matters. Not in theory, but in plain terms. How does this help me do my job better? How does this serve the mission?
If you can’t answer that, people won’t care. It’s not about getting people to love new tech—it’s about showing how it helps them serve people more effectively.
2. Adopt an agile approach
There’s often a strong resistance to change in mission-driven orgs. Not because people are stuck in their ways, but because resources are already stretched thin.
That’s why an agile approach (formally or not) can be such a game changer. Instead of pitching a fully baked solution, show a rough version. Let people play with it. Get their feedback. Iterate in public. It makes the process feel less like a top-down change and more like a collaborative improvement.
3. Start with the end user (always)
It sounds obvious, but it gets lost fast when things get started: systems should work for the people who actually use them.
Instead of designing around what’s easiest for leadership, start with the people doing the work. What slows them down? What’s repetitive or unclear? What are they already doing in a hacked-together spreadsheet because the official system doesn’t work?
That’s where the best innovation starts.
4. Empower innovation where it matters most
Some of the best innovation I’ve seen didn’t come from leadership. The best has come from people who were just really tired of a broken process and decided to fix it. If someone on the team has energy for improving a system or process, let them run with it. Empowering individuals and teams to improve their workflows and systems is crucial.
5. Train people to look for opportunities to implement “micro" innovation
Freeing up 10 minutes a day from a tedious task may not sound like much, but across a team or the entire org, that could be hundreds of hours of time back to focus more on high-impact work. Teaching individuals and teams to look for small ways to innovate workflows and processes (and providing them with training on the tools to do so) enables big change across the organization.
TL;DR
Mission-driven orgs don’t need to choose between people and systems. The best ones invest in both—and know that smart systems make human work even stronger.