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Why is that?

These initiatives become popular because of the charisma and intelligence of the person who first has the idea, and who then is able to gather support to start the ball rolling. Of course it works initially - you have leadership, vision, excitement and a team effort. Remove that tenfold or more from the source, and failure sets in, precisely because you don't have the "guru" and the excitement anymore. You have confusion, resentment and lack of clarity. I'm not suggesting that we don't innovate or make changes, but let's get clear on what innovation is, and how it works.

An innovation is like the branch of a tree; it's connected to the main trunk and draws its sustenance from that. It shoots off the branch, it buds at the apex and goes in a new direction. It's still a tree, it's still connected, it still has leaves and grows more upward than outward. In other words, it knows its roots, it derives its nourishment from the same source and yet it reaches skyward. It's a shoot off the old block, so to speak.

Now, what happens with innovation gone wrong, innovation for its own sake?

It forgets its roots, it moves too far away from the main trunk, it tries to disconnect and communication gets shot to hell. There are some consultants, managers and CEO's who forget about connection and communication, and think innovation is an end to itself. It's not.
All innovation, like all change, must be well-communicated. It needs to take its time, and stay connected to the source. It begins with one risk-taker with an idea, who then builds support and gathers a team, and then improves the organization in some way. It's a new way of doing things, a new product, a new procedure, a new market, but it's still connected to the main source, the trunk of the organization. Downsizing is a perfect example. Yes, we needed to get leaner, not necessarily meaner. The backlash is the loss of some really terrific people, who were the creative backbone of the organization, who could innovate and find new ways of doing things. Instead they've joined other companies or have started their own. A good idea became a shoot out instead of a shoot from. Innovation, like a new tree branch, takes time, nourishment, and the sunshine of a good leader. It doesn't exist in a vacuum and it isn't the end to the means, by itself.