In early September the regular CMO Adviser email newsletter came into my inbox with a subject line that said "Where Marketers Are Most Creative" or something like that. Under the press of business travel and projects, it sat there went unread until finally the psychological weight of it, and all of its fellow unread email newsletters, came crashing down on me until, while working late yet another night, I deleted them all.

Then yesterday Hylton forwarded me an email from Francois touting the fact that both IdeaFlow and his Emergence Marketing blog were listed as "10 Blogs that can jump start your creative spirit" by CMO magazine. Had I read CMO Advisor newsletter three weeks ago, I would have known this.

First, let me say that the CMO issue on innovation is a great read, with articles on where creativity comes from, serendipity, CMOs talking about creativity and the innovation process in their own words, and more.

Second -- in addition to patting myself on the back, I note this now because, along with my relative blogging absence over the last few months, the fact the I didn't know about it before is a result of the burnout I've been feeling. Blogging tends to lead to burnout, and while I was never a multiple-posts-a-day blogger, I felt the pain a long time ago and adjusted my posting level downwards, which I regret.

But innovation too brings pressures that are perfectly positioned to cause burnout. These include the pressure to come up with breakthrough thinking and breakthrough ideas, while still meeting deadlines and goals, and the increased pressure to perform when every project has the attention of senior-level management. If you are a consultant as we are, you face these same pressures from your clients, and you also must deal with clients who are facing these pressures themselves.

And, going back to the CMO special report on innovation, one stand-out article I read was the one on the innovation paradox -- you must be willing to fail in order to succeed. Author Ralph Keyes writes:

Genuine risk-takers know setbacks are part of the creative process. Any innovator worthy of that name accepts that success is the exception, failure the rule. That's why those who are too focused on succeeding can't innovate.

The pressure to be a risk-taker, or even to appear to be a risk-taker while not actually taking any real risks, is at the root of innovation burnout, in my opinion. Here's Keyes again:

How can that [failure-tolerant] mind-set be encouraged? When I ask business leaders, most say that they urge workers to take more risks. This approach seldom has the desired effect, and for good reason. 'They tell us to take more risks,' one middle manager told me, 'but you're expected never to fail.'