Bureaucratic inertia and management faithlessness aside, making your pitch to innovate involves knowing not only consumer needs yet also management needs. Maybe upper management doesn’t know what you do, so send them a short email weekly (2-3 sentences total) to tell them what you’re up to. By opening up a communication channel you can find out what upper management needs. Upper management is supposed to be driven by the company’s strategic plan, so plug onto the strategic plan, and innovate accordingly. If done diplomatically, communication channels can reduce bureaucratic inertia throughout the organization.
