AgEcon Search is the world's largest open-access agricultural and applied economics digital library. This document is freely available to researchers worldwide due to the efforts of AgEcon Search. The paper discusses the central problems in managing innovation, focusing on four key issues: managing attention, managing new ideas into good currency, managing part-whole relationships, and institutional leadership. Innovation is defined as the development and implementation of new ideas by people engaged in transactions within an institutional context. The paper highlights the challenges of managing innovation, including the difficulty of triggering attention to new ideas, the process of transforming ideas into useful outcomes, the complexity of managing part-whole relationships, and the strategic challenge of institutional leadership. The paper also discusses the importance of understanding the social and political dynamics of innovation, the limitations of human capacity to handle complexity, and the need for effective management of attention and part-whole relationships. It emphasizes the importance of institutional leadership in creating a supportive environment for innovation. The paper concludes that managing innovation requires a comprehensive approach that addresses these central problems.AgEcon Search is the world's largest open-access agricultural and applied economics digital library. This document is freely available to researchers worldwide due to the efforts of AgEcon Search. The paper discusses the central problems in managing innovation, focusing on four key issues: managing attention, managing new ideas into good currency, managing part-whole relationships, and institutional leadership. Innovation is defined as the development and implementation of new ideas by people engaged in transactions within an institutional context. The paper highlights the challenges of managing innovation, including the difficulty of triggering attention to new ideas, the process of transforming ideas into useful outcomes, the complexity of managing part-whole relationships, and the strategic challenge of institutional leadership. The paper also discusses the importance of understanding the social and political dynamics of innovation, the limitations of human capacity to handle complexity, and the need for effective management of attention and part-whole relationships. It emphasizes the importance of institutional leadership in creating a supportive environment for innovation. The paper concludes that managing innovation requires a comprehensive approach that addresses these central problems.