I take a close interest in Innovation. It’s vital to Security because the problem and solution spaces are constantly changing. It’s also a fascinating problem: a simple concept but one that organisations find very hard to grasp. In theory it all boils down to a basic skill possessed by all called creativity and a simple organisational process to collect and take foward ideas. It should be trivial to implement. But in practice, organisations struggle to make it happen.
So I was interested to catch up in New York with Howard Wright, former Head of Innovation for the Royal Mail Group and architect of its famous Innovation Lab. Howard has more experience of transforming business thinking than anyone else I know. He’s also run some excellent planning sessions for CISOs which have helped us all gain a better understanding of the future challenges we face. He also has an excellent blog on the subject.
At first sight you’d never expect to find innovation excellence in an old-fashioned, conservative business environment. But that’s where the business need is greatest. So it’s not really surprising to hear that he’s now working as Director of Futures Strategy for Pitney Bowes, an old-fashioned organisation that sells franking machines. Like Royal Mail, it needs to adapt its business products for the Information Age. And that also requires a new focus on security. So look to Pitney Bowes for the latest ideas in Innovation. As with many good things in life, best practices are often where you least expect to find them.