(This is an updated version of an article written several years before the COVID pandemic.  Given the level of disruption that came with widespread adoption of remote work, you might think that the big battles of work design have largely been fought.  I don't see it that way.  As this article points out, there is much more that could / should be done to reimagine work as organizations seek to capture the best creative work from their most unique team members.) 

A lot of people, even those trained in the field, think that innovation is just one set of practices.  That's not the case.  How you do innovation depends on the kind of challenge you face.  And as a result, over the last 70 years, three very different methodologies have been widely adopted.  Today a fourth approach, Ecosystem Innovation, is emerging in response to the need to tackle complex and fast moving challenges in business and the world around us.