Creating a culture of innovation requires a relentless focus on the mission and vision of
the organization. There are many human and organizational factors that contribute to an
innovative culture and there are no simple recipes for creating one.

INNOVATION TAKES LEADERS. A few among us are able to imagine the next great thing that we
did not even know we needed until it arrived. But government innovation usually focuses on
providing better customer service or making processes more effective and efficient.

I started this article at 7:45 am EDT on September 11, 2021. Twenty years ago, I was in my office
as commanding officer of the Coast Guard’s Research & Development Center in Groton,
Connecticut with two senior staff discussing strategy for implementing our next fiscal year’s R&D
agenda. Tragic events within the hour would turn our priorities, indeed the Coast Guard’s and
nation’s priorities, upside down as a terrorist hijacked airliners were about to hit the World Trade
Center in New York City and crash into the Pentagon. Another was headed towards Washington