The humble Post-it note…innovations silent killer

We’ve all been there...

...the calendar invite lands: “Innovation* Day 🚀”.

There’s a buzz, a sense of possibility, maybe even pastries…who are we kidding, there’s always pastries! People arrive armed with fresh thinking, bold ideas, and just enough caffeine to believe they might change the world before lunch.

To be fair, the day often starts well. Ideas flow and conversations spark. Someone builds on someone else’s thought. There’s energy, momentum, and that rare feeling that this…this right now…is what progress looks like.

Then it happens…out come the Post-it notes.

At first, they feel harmless...helpful, even. “Let’s capture everything,” some well-intentioned person says, handing out little squares of fluorescent optimism. Soon, the walls are covered - yellow, pink, blue, green - each one holding a nugget of potential brilliance.

Then comes the next step…grouping.

People stand back, heads tilted, silently judging adhesive-backed thoughts. Notes are shuffled and clusters start to emerge. Someone labels them with themes: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Efficiency Gains, Fees & Billing. It all feels nicely structured and productive.

And yet, something subtle shifts. The themes start to look…familiar…a bit too familiar.

Because they are.

These aren’t new frontiers of thinking, they are well-trodden paths. Rebranded, reworded, slightly re-stuck versions of ideas that have surfaced in every innovation session since the invention of the Post-it note itself.

Energy starts to dip as people realise they’ve written that Post-it note before. Discussions become predictable. Prioritisation exercises begin to feel like a polite reshuffling of the same deck. People nod, but fewer people challenge. The spark that filled the room in the morning quietly flickers. By mid-afternoon, attention drifts and then, inevitably, another well-intentioned person emerges…“Let’s take a photo,” they say. A snapshot is taken of the wall…the mosaic of good intentions. “I’ll write this up and send it around.”

We all know how this ends.

Maybe the notes are transcribed. Maybe they aren’t. Maybe a summary document appears weeks later. Maybe it doesn’t. Regardless, the outcome is the same: innovation has been safely preserved…in a photograph…of a wall…of Post-it notes.

Now am I being harsh on the humble Post-it…after all, it got us this far?

The uncomfortable truth? Post-it notes don’t kill innovation on their own, but they do make it very easy for organisations to feel like they’re innovating without actually doing anything, and by following the tried and tested (but not necessarily successful) method of clustering, grouping and prioritising we are immediately stifling the very free-thinking and fluidity of discussion the day was designed to unleash.

They give the illusion of progress…a theatre of creativity...a tangible output that looks impressive but rarely translates into action.

So, what do we do? Well to get to the crux of it, innovation isn’t about capturing ideas. There are a million ideas buzzing around businesses, and within that million, there’s always a handful of actual good ones! Innovation only ever happens however when it is committed to, and it’s about committing that makes the difference. It’s about moving from “this could work” to “we’re going to try this next week.” It’s about ownership, experimentation, and a willingness to prioritise action over perfection.

It’s not the Post-it note’s fault…it’s just doing its job, but by enabling the capture of ideas so easily, it helps to perpetuate a cycle few businesses manage to break.

So, by all means, keep the Post-it notes as an aid, just don’t let them become the final destination. Instead keep heads up, keep eyes engaged and keep the conversation flowing. Keep talking until you get somewhere that signals agreement, buy-in and commitment. Remember as well, if it really is a good idea, no one is going to forget it purely because it wasn’t written down on a Post-it!

So, is the humble Post-it note the silent killer of innovation? No, it’s what happens (or doesn’t happen) after you stick it to the wall.

If any of this feels familiar, you’re not alone…and more importantly, it doesn’t have to be this way. With the right structure, facilitation and follow-through, innovation days can move beyond ideas on a wall and into meaningful action. If you’re rethinking how your team approaches innovation or strategy sessions, it might be worth having a chat with us. We’re pretty good at turning ideas into action.

*and yes I do now know that it’s more trendy these days to say ‘business transformation’ rather than ‘innovation’…but it just doesn’t roll off the tongue or fit into subject lines as easily!