The attempt to eliminate noise from an operating system or a business process is an interesting and perhaps worthwhile challenge, until one considers the question: What is the real signal? What is creating the noise?

In many businesses today, there are several signals, what we might call noise conflicts. These include:
• What management says it wants vs. what it reinforces
• What the operating systems support vs. what is needed
• The amount of risk that is encouraged vs. that which is tolerated

Noise conflicts raise the question: Is innovation noise or a signal?

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