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Running an IT shop can be challenging at best. Now imagine running an IT shop that numbers over 3,200 people scattered around the globe. That’s what networking giant Cisco’s CIO Rebecca Jacoby has been faced with in her seven and a half year tenure. And in an environment like that, the balance between innovation and simply keeping the IT ship afloat can be a struggle.

“There are two challenges with innovation,” she said. “One thing is, really great technical guys never think you’re doing enough innovation. That’s good – it’s good to have people on your team pushing that envelope.” But at the same, she noted, she doesn’t know anyone with the budget to do extra innovation for no good reason.

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Her solution: “You need to insert innovation as a construct in everything you do.”

That’s not as easy as it sounds. Ms. Jacoby admits that some team members don’t understand what she’s trying to do. They don’t get that while some experimentation is necessary, most of the time the goal is getting that innovation to a stage where there’s a practical result.