Hi, I’m Danil. And I have the Innovation itch.
Careful! The Innovation itch can hit you at any moment. You wake up in the morning and…. boom! — one thought in your head: AUTOMATION! You need to start automating something today, the second you walk into the office.
Sometimes this affliction sneaks up on you at a family picnic. There you are, focused (in the moment, like a good parent should be), playing frisbee with your kid, when suddenly something about AI and an upcoming research project lights up in your head — and the frisbee hits you right back in the forehead.
And now you’re already talking non-stop to your coworkers over morning coffee about something half-baked but somehow contagious.
You’ve already spent three hours, or a couple of days, signed up for a couple of paid tools, asked your coworkers for some information, automated something, maybe vibe-coded (God help you!) something in the evening after hours.
You’re thrilled with yourself; your coworkers are too — kinda, politely. And then it turns out, that NOBODY NEEDED IT.
You think the innovation itch will leave you alone after that? Forever?!
Until the next trigger, kiddos. It could be a walk by the river, a workout at the gym, an inspiring reel, or an ad for some shiny new tool.
How do you protect yourself (and the people around you) from this? How do you tell the ITCH apart from the INNOVATION you actually need?!
Questions worth asking yourself
There are frameworks for evaluating innovation, some more complex and interesting than others — like the Desirability, Feasibility, and Viability diagram by IDEO, or the Amazon Working Backwards Method.
Great models, worth learning and actually using. But sometimes, between the moment the innovation itch hits and the moment you start burning resources (time, energy, money), there isn’t much time to spare, or maybe you’re on your own, and there’s no team around to run a sprint with.
This isn’t a replacement for DVF or Amazon’s Working Backwards. It’s what you do alone, in 10 minutes, before you rush off to buy a new subscription or bring the whole thing up at the morning stand-up.
What I’m suggesting isn’t a replacement for DVF or Amazon’s Working Backwards. It’s what you do alone, in 10 minutes, before you rush off to buy a new subscription or bring the whole thing up at the morning team meeting.
So sit down, grab a piece of paper, and answer a few questions:
The Need Questions
In the traditional, bigger frameworks for testing ideas and innovations, this is usually phrased as “has the need been confirmed?” — and that’s a big, big trap when you have the Innovation itch: you’ll happily tell yourself “yes,” just so you can get started.
It’s better to ask yourself two separate questions instead:
What need (and whose need) inside your organization does what I’ve come up with actually address?
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Who, exactly, and in what words, described this problem in the last two weeks or month?
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What will change? Not what I want to do, not how, and definitely not how awesome it's going to be.
The Capacity Questions
Most traditional models keep this one pretty conceptual — “can we build it?”
I’d rather ask two more detailed questions instead:
Does the organization actually have the technical, financial, and skills capacity to build what you came up with?
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Who’s going to sign up to carry this for the next six months (if not you), once the itch has worn off?”
In other words, is there that same kind of capacity to actually roll this out and keep it running afterward?
The Alignment Questions
Don’t treat it as a formality — a box you check on autopilot (”sure, it supports our mission”) right before jumping to the fun part: actually building the thing.
Ask yourself:
Which existing strategy, plan, vision, or mission line does this actually serve?
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Whose work and which processes will actually be affected by this, and how?
These questions aren't just about what’s good for the organization. It’s also about legitimacy — it’s what turns your idea from a side project you got excited about into something you can pitch, defend, sell internally, and find a budget for.
One Last Thing
The Innovation itch is a great thing in itself.
You’re lucky if it visits you every once in a while!
But next time “the frisbee” hits you in the forehead, you’ll have four questions on a piece of paper between the moment the attack starts and the moment you act.
This won’t cure the itch. It won’t make you boring. It won’t take away your creativity.
It’ll just give you the pause you need — the one that separates thought from action.
I write about what I actually work on inside expert institutions and knowledge-driven organizations. How to build not just the production of new knowledge, but the technical and project infrastructure around it. So the process of producing new knowledge doesn’t end with a published report and three social media posts, but continues: reaching new audiences and becoming more accessible and applicable.
Thanks for reading!
See you next week!
Best,
Danil | Make It Work