If you’re not sweating, you’re not innovating! Most ideas die in analysis paralysis inside large, established businesses. A few weeks ago, I was talking to the President of a large utility company in Mexico. This company is a former client who I have consulted for in the past.

One project I pitched back in the day was a mobile app that would be like an Uber for their delivery drivers. Customers would download the app, make their orders, and track it on their phones. It took them 10 years to execute this idea!

Here’s a fact: you won’t innovate if you don’t act.

But, that’s not all. You can’t analyze your way to innovation. Organizations that spend more time in analysis paralysis spend more time not innovating. Anyway, the businesses that don’t act are committing a very powerful innovation sin.

Innovation is the lifeblood of growth and progress. Yet, like any powerful force, innovation comes with its own set of pitfalls—the 7 deadly sins that can derail even the most promising efforts. By understanding these sins, you can steer clear of them and ensure your innovation journey is a fruitful one.

The Little Black Book Of Innovation, by Scott D. Anthony, has a section where he mentions the 7 sins of innovation:

Let’s take a closer look at these sins, and more importantly, how to avoid falling into their traps.

1. Pride: Forcing Your View of Quality Onto the Market

Pride in innovation comes from believing that your perception of quality is the same as your customers. This often results in overshooting—creating something too complex or advanced for what customers truly need.

How to avoid it: Take an external viewpoint. Spend time understanding how your customers measure quality. Their version of “perfect” might be simpler or different from what you imagine.

2. Sloth: Letting Innovation Efforts Crawl

When innovation slows to a crawl, opportunities pass you by. Sloth in innovation is the reluctance to push the boundaries or put in the effort needed to stay ahead.

How to avoid it: Channel your inner Edison. Remember, “genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.” Commit to continuous progress, even if it feels like a grind.

3. Gluttony: Suffering From Abundance

Gluttony in innovation is about having too much—too many ideas, too many resources, too many directions. This abundance can lead to slow and overly cautious efforts, where true creativity is stifled by the weight of possibilities.

How to avoid it: Embrace selective scarcity. Constrain your resources, especially in the early stages of innovation. Constraints force creative solutions and help you focus on what matters.

4. Lust: Pursuing Shiny Objects

Lust in innovation is the distraction that comes from pursuing too many bright, shiny objects. It’s easy to get pulled in multiple directions by exciting new technologies or trends, but this often leads to scattered efforts and little meaningful progress.

How to avoid it: Focus your innovation efforts. Prioritize initiatives that align with your core strategy, and remember that sometimes destruction (of old habits or processes) precedes true creation.

5. Envy: “Us vs. Them” Thinking

Envy creates an unhealthy divide between the core business and new growth efforts. When innovation is seen as a threat to the existing business, or vice versa, it stifles collaboration and leads to conflict.

How to avoid it: Celebrate both the core business and new growth efforts. Innovation thrives in environments where both the established and the new are appreciated and seen as complementary.

6. Wrath: Punishing Risk Takers

Wrath in innovation is the tendency to harshly punish those who take risks and fail. This creates a culture of fear, where no one dares to try anything new.

How to avoid it: Reward behavior, not outcomes. Encourage experimentation by celebrating those who take thoughtful risks, regardless of the result. A culture that values learning from failures as much as successes breeds true innovation.

7. Greed: Impatience for Growth

Greed is the impatience for growth that leads to prioritizing short-term gains over long-term potential. This can result in focusing on low-potential markets just for the sake of immediate returns.

How to avoid it: Be patient for growth but impatient for results. Play the long game in choosing which markets to pursue, but set ambitious goals and timelines to make meaningful progress.

Bottom line: Innovation is hard. It’s the opposite of business as usual. By avoiding these 7 deadly sins, you can foster an environment that encourages creativity, calculated risk-taking, and sustainable growth. Remember, innovation isn’t just about generating ideas; it’s about nurturing the right behaviors, mindset, and culture to make those ideas thrive.