7 Strategies for Sustained Innovation
The need for constant reinvention is a given in today's business environment. And while a breakthrough product or concept can catapult an organization ahead of its competitors, in these fast-paced times, that advantage is often short-lived.
While major product or service breakthroughs make headlines, it's the steady incremental innovations made by employees every day that give an organization the sustained growth it needs.
Sustained innovation comes from developing a collective sense of purpose; from unleashing the creativity of people throughout your organization and from teaching them how to recognize unconventional opportunities.
As innovative ideas surface, a clear sense of mission empowers front-line employees to act on new ideas that further your company's purpose.
It Starts at the Top
Leaders create the psychological environment that fosters sustained innovation at all levels. The challenge is that as an organization grows, management structures and bureaucracies, designed to channel growth, tend to create barriers to small-scale enhancements.
While there are exceptions, in larger organizations employees tend to feel removed from the function of innovation and are less likely to take independent action or offer revolutionary ideas.
The commitment to establishing the right psychological conditions for innovation needs to start at the top. This means that, as a leader, you need to consider your own assumptions about innovation and their role in creating and changing your organization's culture.
You need to appreciate the value of incremental as well as major innovations, understand the psychology of innovation and take the lead in promoting an innovative culture. Otherwise, it's just not going to happen.
While your organization's innovative capability depends on multiple factors, there are several steps you can take to create the psychological conditions that favor inventive thinking, regardless of your industry or the size of your organization.
Establish A Clear Sense of Direction
Changing cultures involves changing minds, and that takes time. But as with any initiative, a clear sense of the target helps to speed the journey.
Your organization's mission helps to organize and direct the creativity of its people. What is the purpose of consistent innovation in your enterprise? Is it to add customer value to existing products and services?to speed delivery?to increase on-time arrivals?
Having a clearly articulated message allows everyone to focus on innovation where it can deliver the greatest value. Innovation, as Peter Drucker has defined it, means creating a new dimension of performance. A sense of mission clarifies the direction of performance and helps determine which new ideas to focus on.
Open Communication
Open communication between management and employees sets the stage for an atmosphere of trust. But if you want to establish a new, more trusting culture, you can't expect employees to take the first step.
Company leadership initiates the process of open communication by sharing information with employees on a regular basis. This includes good news and bad.
Southwest Airlines policy of sharing information enabled the company to weather the sudden increase in fuel costs during the 1990-91 Gulf War. The company kept everyone informed as fuel prices soared. Southwest's CEO Herb Kelleher sent a memo to pilots asking for their help. Through inventive thinking, the pilots found ways to rapidly drop fuel consumption without compromising safety or service.
Leaders of organizations that sustain innovation offer multiple opportunities for communication.
While not every company can offer an open-door policy for its senior executives, or even a chance for regular face-to-face contact, every organization can institute programs that enable front-line workers to feel heard. From CEO lunches with cross-sections of employees, to monthly division meetings between employees and the general manager, to open intranet forums for idea sharing and feedback, leaders can communicate their openness to hearing innovative ideas from those who are closest to the customer.
Reduce bureaucracy
While larger organizations are often considered less entrepreneurial and inventive than their smaller counterparts, it's not the size of your company that inhibits innovation -- it's the systems. Bureaucracy slows down action and is a serious impediment to innovation.
Smaller organizations can often move faster on implementing innovative ideas because they have less bureaucracy. When Jack Welch was reengineering General Electric he said, "My goal is to get the small company's soul and small company's speed inside our big company."
Faster implementation encourages further inventive thinking. Think for a minute. If you had an idea for an innovation, and it required 6 weeks to clear channels and another 3 weeks to get funding, would you have lost any impetus for further contribution?
Instill A Sense of Ownership
An ownership mentality creates a powerful incentive for inventive thinking. When an individual is clearly aware of how his or her interests are aligned with those of the company, he or she has a strong reason to "go the extra mile" to further the mission.
Stock ownership is a significant, if not essential, incentive for employees. However on its own, profit-sharing doesn't guarantee your employees will think like owners.
When employees don't see how their individual efforts affect company profitability, they tend to be passive and reactive. To encourage greater involvement, make sure each employee knows how his or her work affects company performance.
Southwest gave pilots the freedom to design and implement a plan to reduce fuel consumption because they were in the best position to determine what would be effective. Pilots pitched in enthusiastically because they understood the impact their actions had on the bottom-line and ultimately, on their own futures.
Make Sure Recognition and Rewards are Consistent
While financial rewards are often tied to innovations, rewarding only the individual or team responsible for the "big idea" or its implementation, sets up a subtle competitive atmosphere that discourages the smaller, less dramatic improvements.
Even team-based compensation can be counterproductive if teams are set up to compete with each other for rewards. These incentives discourage the cross functional collaboration so critical to maximal performance.
Companies that successfully foster an innovation culture design rewards that reinforce the culture they want to establish. If your organization values integrated solutions, you cannot compensate team leaders based on unit performance. If your company values development of new leaders, you cannot base rewards on short-term performance.
A Tolerance for Risk and Failure
Tolerating a certain degree of failure as a necessary part of growth is an important part of encouraging innovation. Innovation is a risk. Employees won't take risks unless they understand goals clearly, have a clear but flexible framework in which to operate and understand that failures are recognized as simply steps in the learning process.
Toyota's Production System transfers quality management and innovation authority to front-line plant workers. Workers are able to make adjustments in their work if they see an opportunity for improvement. If the innovation works, it's incorporated into operations, if not, it's chalked up to experience.
A major psychological benefit of Toyota's method is the development of trust. Employees who trust their bosses are more likely to take intelligent risks that have potential benefit for the company.
Eliminate Projects and Processes that Don't Work
As your organization innovates you need to practice what Peter Drucker calls "creative abandonment." Projects and processes that no longer contribute should be abandoned to make room for new, progressive activities.
While no organization wants to squander financial resources on unprofitable activities, it is actually the irreplaceable resource of time and employee energy that is wasted if a company holds on to the old way of doing things.
Innovation requires optimism. It's about an attitude of continually reaching for higher performance. You can't expect employees to maintain an optimistic attitude if they feel compelled to continue in activities that are going nowhere.
© 2005 Dr. Robert Karlsberg & Dr. Jane Adler
Dr. Robert Karlsberg and Dr. Jane Adler are senior leadership consultants and founders of Strategic Leadership LLC. They work with senior executives to maximize performance, facilitate transitions and accelerate major change initiatives. Contact them at 301-530-5611 or visit http://www.ExecutiveEffectiveness.com
 Google News Updated : Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:13:38 GMT Microsoft's Photosynth wilts under pressure - Computerworld
Computerworld - By Gregg Keizer August 21, 2008 (Computerworld) Within hours of its launch, Microsoft Corp.'s new photo-stitching service went dark, overwhelmed by demand, the company said Thursday afternoon. New Microsoft photo site spends first day offline New Microsoft Tech Converts Photo Soup Into 3-D Image Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:28:59 GMT UPDATE 1-Microsoft enlists Seinfeld for ad campaign--source - Reuters Reuters - By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will star in a $300 million marketing campaign for Microsoft Corp aimed at burnishing the image of its computer operating system, a person familiar with the effort said on Thursday ... Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates to star in anti-Apple ads Seinfeld to be pitchman for Microsoft Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:27:28 GMT My Super Sweet 16: The Miley Cyrus Edition - E! Online
E! Online - Miley Cyrus is about to show up all those spoiled brats on My Super Sweet 16 who think they're cool being flown to their party by helicopter or when they're carried in like a princess by a group of hot dudes. Miley Cyrus to Celebrate Turning 16 at Disneyland Miley Cyrus Sweet 16 Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 20:21:48 GMT Hillary Clinton's Staff Looking to Avoid Embarrassing Anti-Obama ... - FOXNews
FOXNews - Hillary Clinton's staff is trying to avoid an embarrassing anti-Obama demonstration by her supporters during the floor vote at next week's Democratic convention in Denver. Clinton Will Attend Fund-Raiser for Towns Clinton for VP? She Says Ask the Obama Campaign Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:15:16 GMT Marlins let one slip away in San Francisco - Sports Network
Sports Network - San Francisco, CA (Sports Network) - Marlins reliever Kevin Gregg's wild pitch in bottom of the ninth inning scored Emmanuel Burriss to send San Francisco past Florida, 4-3, in the finale of a three-game series. Giants walk off on Gregg's wild pitch Giants beat Marlins on wild pitch in 9th inning Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:33:45 GMT IAC Officially Breaks Up - Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal - By DAVID BENOIT and KATHY SHWIFF IAC is left as a collection of more than 35 Internet companies -- including search engine Ask.com, dating site Match. IAC: And Then There Were Five Diller's IAC Split May Fail to Boost Investor Returns (Update2) Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:17:40 GMT GM to Invest $500 Million To Build Chevy Cruze - Wall Street Journal
Wall Street Journal - By KATHY SHWIFF General Motors Corp. will spend more than $500 million in the US to build the Chevrolet Cruze, a next-generation compact car. GM announces $500M investment for small car GM to invest $500 million in small car plant Publ.Date : Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:10:12 GMT Increased Web Site Traffic |
PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts,
Websites, and more... In September 2004, President Bush signed the $146 billion tax... Read More Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people... Read More A study a couple of years ago found that 63%... Read More Positive radical movement is the holy grail of nearly every... Read More As a manager our role is to:1. Establish the vision,... Read More Although there are real, external reasons for managerial difficulty ?... Read More You're the boss, and you have every reason to feel... Read More Each time you or one of your work crews cruises... Read More Audiences who saw the fabled Broadway musical, Chorus Line, marveled... Read More Using Employee Opinions Effectively When Designing HR ProgramsEmployee opinion is... Read More The retention of highly skilled knowledge workers is one of... Read More 1. Let people know what you expect. If people know... Read More This article relates to the Safety and Working Environment competency... Read More We live in a relentlessly competitive world. The daily pressure... Read More Are your people consistently following your procedures? Each year, organizations... Read More Encouraged by the recognition, Sarah Lewsiton went home from work... Read More Recently a client told me a wonderful story about how... Read More Each year many people create a list of resolutions designed... Read More Sometimes, I harbour a suspicion that Dante was a Financial... Read More As a small business owner, entrepreneur or independent professional, it's... Read More Many concepts in the fields of managing creativity are very... Read More Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More There was a buzz in the air recently about the... Read More The business books at the library and book stores fill... Read More There's a programme currently running on BBC Television in the... Read More
Adsense
websites
Process and Procedures Investments - How to Get Money Back
Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges and Solutions
Technology & Communication
Radical Creativity from Incremental Creativity ? large movements from small changes
Management to the Vision-Contribution and the Role of Compliance
How Managers Can Turn Failures Into Successes
Encouraging Behavior That Gets Results
Driving of work trucks
Eight Key Steps to Building B2B Major Account Client Alliances
Using Employee Opinions Effectively When Designing HR Programs
Employee Retention: Keeping the People Who Keep You in Business
The Ten Keys to Maximizing Employee Performance
Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Improving Workplace Safety
The Top 10 Requirements for Your Business to Become and Remain Profitable
Management Procedures Usability ? How to Improve
Why Saying Well Done Works
How to Keep a Good Employee: Look, Listen, Learn
10 Resolutions For The New Year!!
The Inferno of the Finance Director
How To Get What You Really Want
Culture Management and Creativity
Business Innovation ? Status Games
Three Business Lessons From The US Postal Service
Never Wrestle with a PIG
Motivation - You Get What You Reward
Affordable and Reliable Web Hosting Starting at $4.49/Month
Quality Standards with ISO 9001
Standardizing Quality SystemsThe ISO, or International Organization for Standardization, was... Read More
Ten Secrets of Super Successful Meeting Planners
Whoever said that being a meeting planner was easy, lied!... Read More
How to Create an Operations Manual
An operations manual can act as a tool for training... Read More
Spirits in the Corporate Boardroom.......Oh, sure......
There is a growing movement in the spiritual... Read More
Project Management - Preventing Project Slips
Can Project Managers prevent projects from slipping?Ask a techie to... Read More
Is Busyness Affecting Your Business?
I'm too busy; I'd love to but I'm very busy;... Read More
The Professor Makes A Minus Power Move
If you think the power move has costs, consider the... Read More
Turbo Charge Your Career With The Most Powerful Leadership Tool Of All: The Leadership Talk: Part 2
In Part One, I described the Leadership Talk and how... Read More
The ?Better Product? fallacy
Another fallacy ingrained in the minds of most marketing managers... Read More
So, You Want to be in Management? Five Essential Factors that Will Determine Your Chances
The following information is based upon over 500 interviews with... Read More
Introducing the 15 Frameworks of Successful Self-Employed Professionals
A framework is a way of thinking, a point-of-view, a... Read More
How To Get What You Really Want
As a small business owner, entrepreneur or independent professional, it's... Read More
Beyond Management Coaching: When Things Are Getting Out of Control
Leaders and Managers often ask us, 'What do you do... Read More
Why I always Keep my Promises
Integrity is very important to me, and I try hard... Read More
Why Do Managers Create Low Morale? Or Does My Bum Look Big In This?
Why do managers create low morale as a product of... Read More
Hire Winners: Ask the Right Questions
How do you as a manager, supervisor or team leader... Read More
Developing Your Management Style
One thing a lot of us don't do in sales... Read More
Eight Key Steps to Building B2B Major Account Client Alliances
Audiences who saw the fabled Broadway musical, Chorus Line, marveled... Read More
Business Knowledge Management
In the last few years a lot has been written... Read More
Cross Cultural Solutions for International Business
Globalisation, the expansion of intercontinental trade, technological advances and the... Read More
Your Biggest Problem in Business? Work Ethic
US Work Ethic Issues and Lack of serviceWell many... Read More
Have You Fixed the Broken Window?
Left alone it doesn't take long for a building with... Read More
Firing Someone Without Resentment
Firing, sacking, letting go or terminating people is unpleasant. There... Read More
Managing the Human Resource Project
We obtain strategic results by aligning HR mission, vision and... Read More
Agendas Make Meetings Productive
Having an agenda template that works well for you, week... Read More
Business Management |