What does it mean to be innovative in public organizations? Scholars and policy makers call for public sector organizations to become innovative, whether this is through increasing collaboration, exploring networks or recognizing the innovation that occurs in government. This study contributes to this discussion a critical perspective arguing that much of the innovation that occurs in public organizations may come about in ways that are intentionally silenced by the organization and therefore dependent on the tactical creation of space for everyday creativity. It does so through an 18-month ethnographic study informed by Foucault’s concepts of governmentality and discourse, as well as his history of the emergence of police within the state, and by De Certeau’s theory of everyday practice and metaphor of the city.