Impact Trust • Working glossary
Systemic innovation / systems innovation
Innovation understood not as individual inventions but as building institutional and organisational capability to learn and act under uncertainty, equipping yourself to respond to any combination of shocks, not just predicted ones.
Details
Our Take
Treat innovation as a strategic institutional capability, not a project. Requires letting go of competition, best practice, and optimal solutions in favour of portfolios of possibilities. Reframes 'innovation' from a programme activity (an innovation lab, an innovation fund) to an institutional capacity -- the ability of the whole organisation to learn, adapt, and reconfigure. Systemic innovation is what happens when institutional structures support rather than suppress improvisation.
Examples of Use
EU innovation policy
Synonyms/Variants
Institutional innovation; Adaptive capacity building; Innovation-as-infrastructure
Typical everyday wording
Building the ability to learn and adapt under uncertainty.
Contribute to this term
Share edits, alternative wording, or sources. Editors review submissions before publishing.
Thanks for contributing!
Your submission is pending review. You can track status on the Contributions page.
What's your take?
Share your perspective or experience with this term. This is feedback, not a direct term edit.
Feedback submitted
Thanks for sharing your take. You can track it from the Contributions page under My Feedback.