This article describes cooperation between authorities and universities in order to increase innovation capacity and thereby achieve change in performance and execution for better contribution to a sustainable future. Through action research, the authors have developed new knowledge about results, success factors and obstacles for increasing innovation capacity. The paper recognizes that administrative and adaptive leadership must work together effectively if organizations are to function properly. There is a need for a dynamic relationship between the formal and the informal in organizations– between top-down administrative forces and complex adaptive emergent forces. There is a need for a wider range and simultaneous use of management models adapted to different contexts and needs.