Dark Ditch or Smart Pitch

Fear erodes innovation and creativity. Forced choices are only good for getting people to work, not for expecting them to think radically. And without radical thoughts and dissensions without fear, innovation is a distant dream.
An environment that is tempered with fear always stops people for expressing and even if they know that their organization is going the wrong way, they simply keep quiet because they are unsure of the consequences. In an effort to stop their 'boss' falling in a ditch, they may be hurried into the same ditch for speaking their mind. How can one expect people to think creatively in such choked-up environments.
In Microsoft corporation two employees actually wrote memo to Bill Gates telling him that he was wrong on going-on with the strategy of set-top boxes and satellite TV and that the company should instead invest in Internet, which is going to be the next big thing. Bill Gates later called for a meeting and revised the entire strategy. In how many organizations such environments can prevail? Voluntary involvement is at the heart of engagement.
But then, every company has a choice whether to be the Microsoft, Google, Apple of the world or to be a back-office Sweatshop. So choose your way but if you choose the latter then for god's sake stop chanting innovation just because you heard that from somewhere else.