Inspiring Innovation and Creativity at APL

Abstract

Since 2010, the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has been executing a strategy to enhance innovation at the Lab, both in its culture and in its practices. The expectation has been that this environment will increase the prospects for APL staff members to create new defining innovations—game-changing developments that profoundly advance science, engineering, and national security capabilities—even as the global innovation ecosystem rapidly changes. Established research findings on innovation principles, along with APL’s own experiments, informed the development of an integrated, complementary suite of innovation initiatives. This article tells the story of how these initiatives were introduced and how they have impacted, and continue to impact, APL’s culture and creative ideas.