Increasing innovation is on every CEO’s mind these days no matter how hot their current product/service, because innovation is what’s necessary to ensure their company’s future success.
But is there such a thing as too much innovation?
Ever hear the phrase ‘too much of a good thing’?
Innovation is good, but too much can kill as quickly as too little.
For proof, consider the story of Lego, which, after 56 years of growth almost bankrupted itself by developing a total ‘culture of innovation’ based on expert thought and best practices.
Kirk Christiansen [CEO] and his leadership team adhered to nearly every one of the major principles that are widely prescribed by experts in launching its spate of innovation in 2000 (…) “LEGO followed all the advice of the experts and yet it almost went bankrupt.” –David Robertson, Wharton practice professor of operations and information management, who studied the company and has a new book documenting what happened.
In turning itself around Lego did not pull back from innovation, rather it organized and channeled it.
Management gave everyone from the sales force to the headquarters staff the capability to create and suggest new avenues for growth. But their ideas were put to the test: Any innovation had to prove to be consistent with the company goal of LEGO being recognized as the best company for family products.
Did the new approach work?
Consider the numbers over the last three years and you decide,
sales have gone up an average of 24% annually;
profits have grown 41%;
third largest manufacturer of play materials; and
is in more than 130 countries.
Lego is positive proof that best practices work only when managed and tailored for each individual situation—even though they are usually billed as “one size fits all.”
“To the extent that creativity is about the recombination of existing ideas, then combining ideas that haven’t been connected before creates the potential to produce something new and useful.” –Roy Chua, assistant professor in the Organizational Behavior unit at Harvard Business School.
Research finds that innovation only results when there is a high level of affective trust.
…”cognitive trust,” an intellectual appreciation of another person’s skills, abilities, and reliability; and “affective trust,” an emotional belief that another person has one’s best interests at heart.
I have no research to back this up, but I bet affective trust is just as important to people with the same cultural background, but other differences, such as gender.
Over the decades I’ve talked with thousands of people and none of them were willing to take a risk or show their vulnerabilities to someone they didn’t trust, whether boss, colleague or spouse.
Finding ways to measure and improve affective trust in your organization will provide a sound foundation for creating a culture of innovation.
Why in the world would I choose a poet who’s life barely reached into the Twentieth Century (1850-1919 to provide insight to both workers and mangers? Because real wisdom is ageless, what changes are the words and style used to communicate it.
You’re already familiar with Wilcox through paraphrasing of some of her work; for example, “Laugh and the world laughs with you; Weep, and you weep alone; For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth, But has trouble enough of its own”
Life is full of choices and the way we choose is dictated by our MAP, or as Wilcox said, “’Tis the set of the sail that decides the goal, and not the storm of life”
I’m a big proponent of deep thinking, something that can’t happen when you are wired and connected. Wilcox made this point beautifully in this short rhyme.
“When the great universe was wrought
To might and majesty from naught,
The all creative force was –
THOUGHT.”
Thinking goes hand in hand with learning and then sharing what is learned with others. The problem is that some people want to share first and these words seem written especially for them,
“Live to learn, and learn to live
If you want to give men knowledge
You must get, ere you give.”
Here’s some great advice for managers, “A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.”
Finally, here are six words that can serve as a foundation for both entrepreneurs and companies working to create a culture of innovation, “Change is the watchword of progression”
IBM turns 100 this week, which is an impressive birthday for a person or a company, but it’s huge for a company that plays in the high tech world which counts years more like a dog does—seven to one. IBM not only plays, it wins.
It wins by constantly changing itself.
“Its ability to keep on re-inventing itself over the decades has been key to its survival.” –Bob Djurdjevic, of Annex Research
In the late 1980s IBM stumbled badly and over the next few years it became obvious that the stumble could be fatal.
IBM almost died because positive process had morphed into an ossified bureaucracy that was killing innovation.
In 1992, the recession and the company’s failure to keep up with its competitors resulted in a $5 billion loss, more than any U.S. company had ever experienced in a single year.
In 1995 Lou Gerstner was chosen to turn IBM around, but he didn’t focus on products, he focused on culture.
“Until I came to IBM, I probably would have told you that culture was just one among several important elements in any organization’s makeup and success—along with vision, strategy, marketing, financials, and the like… I came to see, in my time at IBM, that culture isn’t just one aspect of the game—it is the game.”
Current IBM CEO Sam Palmisano is still focused on culture.
“I still come to work every day at a company with a unique ability to create — and continually recreate — a culture of innovation.”
The article is interesting, but Lou Gerstner’s book Who Said Elephants Can’t Dance is truly fascinating.
Pick up a copy if you believe in the importance of culture; read it if you don’t—I guarantee it will change your mind.
No person or company lives a century or more without a great culture—one that is strong enough to support the entity and flexible enough to grow and change as the world does.
If you truly want a culture of innovation, then you also need to create a culture of leadership.
Last week I commented that if the ‘i’ in leadership is capitalized it changes leadership to leadershIt.
Whereas leadership can be a great motivator, leadershIt is a guaranteed demotivator.
Visions and other leadership functions done with an eye to self-aggrandizement aren’t likely to resonate whether done by positional leaders, leaders in the instance or those who aspire.
Because initiative and leadership are synonymous, leadership needs to be pushed out of the corner office and spread throughout the organization; doing so will encourage growth, creativity and innovation.
If leadership is the fertilizer then culture is the water, without which nothing will grow, and people are the seeds from which ideas come.
By spreading leadership evenly through out your company garden and watering regularly, leaving no unfertilized or dry patches in which a seed will be stunted or die, you assure yourself a bountiful harvest that will be the envy of your competitors. (Two follow-up posts have more on this topic here and here.)
This isn’t a new idea, just a new way of phrasing it; Lao Tzu said it best 4000 years ago, “To lead the people walk behind them.”
The one thing that remains constant in all these discussions is that you always have a choice—this time it’s between leadership and leadershIt.
It’s something we all know, although we tend to forget, leadership and positional leadership are not the same thing. Because anyone/everyone can lead, within the framework of their own lives, much of the information available about and for positional leaders can be absorbed and used by all.
Not that all positional leaders should be tarred by the same brush; there is still a lot for everyman to learn from leadership teaching from sources such as these.
Over the past six years, starting as a project focused on women that now includes men, McKinsey has developed a vision they call “centered leadership” that includes five specific dimensions. You may find it useful in putting more meaning and balance in your own life. (Free registration required.)
This concept has five dimensions: meaning, or finding your strengths and putting them to work in the service of a purpose that inspires you; positive framing, or adopting a more constructive way to view your world and convert even difficult situations into opportunities; connecting, or building a stronger sense of community and belonging; engaging, or pursuing opportunities disguised by risk; and energizing, or practicing ways to sustain your energy on a long leadership journey.
Do (did) you love or hate Shakespeare? Besides being one of humanity’s most accomplished writers, Shakespeare, like Lao Tzu, offers brilliant insights for all those who want to excel. Check out how Carol and Ken Adelman, founders of Movers & Shakespeares, use Henry V to teach leadership and let Shakespeare’s ideas guide you.
Henry V’s leadership skills and his ability to innovate in ways that would turn significant disadvantages into game-winning advantages.
What can you learn about leading a ‘culture of innovation’ on your iPod? And learn it not from a podcast, but through music from a guy who has constantly reinvented himself and his music to stay relevant in the current world.
Even if there is “darkness on the edge of town” today, when it comes to leading your company’s growth efforts with innovation expertise, there is no reason for your organization to be a casualty when you could instead “walk in the sun” (Born to Run).
And that’s not the only musical source from which you can draw lessons in leading, innovation, extending, inventing and reinventing yourself.
From business to fashion, Lady Gaga is an innovator, and she also makes a strong case as a leader.
Do you work at fostering a culture of innovation? Encourage your people to think creatively? Do you want them to come up with ideas, large and small, to improve products and processes?
Most managers do.
Do you unintentionally stomp on their creative efforts?
That happens more often than you might think.
How many times has a member of your team (at any level) had an idea or made a suggestion and your initial response was along the lines of, “I know…,” “we tried that already…,” or “Jill already…”
Such reactions dump ice water on the creative process and if it happens several times most people won’t bother mentioning their next idea. Employees understand ideas may not be used, but that’s different from feeling you don’t want to hear about them unless they are perfect.
This happens most frequently with new employees, because they have no history to guide them, but new or not, the result is to kill creativity, instead of nurturing it.
I frequently hear from clients and others about their exciting breakthroughs/ideas for motivating their people, for their culture, or whatever, and it’s often simply their rephrasing of ideas we’ve been discussing or that I, or others, have written about, sometimes for years.
It doesn’t matter; and I make sure not to say anything that detracts from their breakthrough—causing them to feel that it’s not a big deal and that they merely reinvented an old wheel.
You see, the big deal is that they thought of it independently and that’s what I want to encourage—ideas, creative thinking, thinking beyond their knowledge, not necessarily historical knowledge.
To nurture the thinking that leads to creativity you need to acknowledge it, you don’t need to convince them that no one ever thought of it before, they’ll figure that out for themselves or a peer will tell them, what you focus on is the accomplishment.
The critical point is that they came to it on their own, and, because it came from inside, they own it.
And that makes the idea far more potent than anything you or I or anybody can say from the outside.
So when that old idea comes up yet again acknowledge the creativity of the thought first, then gently explain its history, being sure the person understands that the value is in the creativity it took to think of it and that you are looking forward to more creativity in the future.
How profitable can a company be that takes social responsibility to its extreme?
What kind of corporate social responsibility is possible if Wall Street isn’t breathing down your neck?
For answers you need look no further than India’s Tata and America’s SAS.
I’ve already written twice about SAS, its amazing culture and the lengths they go to to take care of their people.
And then there is Tata, where Ratan Tata, Chairman of Tata Group, built a culture of innovation after India dropped its trade barriers.
… for his companies to survive and thrive in a global economy he had to make innovation a priority—and build it into the DNA of the Tata group so that every employee at every company might think and act like an innovator.
Notice it says every employee, not just the stars, designers or engineers.
Obviously good culture and good business, but not really extreme.
Extreme social responsibility follows a different path. In 2000 Tata Tea Ltd. purchased Britain’s Tetley Tea Company and shortly after sold the vast plantations in an economically underdeveloped community where it had been the largest employer for a century.
But the transaction was anything but routine. Instead of working out a lucrative deal with eager investment bankers, bribing local politicians to mollify them, laying off workers, and selling to the highest bidder, as some other Indian companies shedding a moribund business might have done, Tata Tea sold 17 of the 25 plantations to its own former employees. Layoffs were generally limited to one per household, and Tata gave a group of voluntary retirees enough cash to buy equity in the new company that was formed. (That company, Kanan Devan Hills Plantation Company [KDHP], still operates as an employee-owned enterprise.)
Although Tata Tea would henceforth maintain only limited business interests in the area (including some equity in KDHP), the company continued its active social role there. It still subsidizes a range of social services and KDHP employee benefits, including free housing for plantation workers, a private school, an education center for disabled children and young adults, and the newly renovated Tata General Hospital in Munnar. Tata still remains a major customer of KDHP, which helps guarantee a stable supply of tea at competitive prices.
Tata’s extreme culture is simple.
Since its founding in 1868, Tata has operated on the premise that a company thrives on social capital (the value created from investing in good community and human relationships) in the same way that it relies on hard assets for sustainable growth.
And at $70 billion it certainly is thriving.
Extreme culture is long-term and looks well beyond the next quarter and short-term profits.
Extreme culture is successful, but not in the US—Wall Street would never allow it.
When possible I prevail on someone I know to attend the major AlwaysOn conferences, usually it’s KG Charles-Harris, but more recently it’s been Chris Blackman.
Last week Chris attended this year’s AlwaysOn Venture Capital Summit at Sand Hill Road in the heart of VCland and got a glimpse into the future investment strategies of that storied world.
From Chris Blackman
A culture of innovation? Customer driven? Family oriented? Work hard play hard? Top down or bottom up?
Do companies still embrace and boast about these corporate attitudes anymore?
Judging from what I heard at the AlwaysOn Venture Capital Summit they have taken a back seat to burnishing a reputation of being a green in many companies—but not all.
Amiel Kornel, senior managing director of the Emerging Technology Group at venture firm Spencer Trask still cares about those values and behaviors.
In particular, he looks for “companies that will define new market categories of business while emphasizing a top down approach to a balanced lifestyle.”
Innocentive is Kornel’s poster child for such values.
It also created the business category known as crowd sourcing.
For example, last week, the US government announced an online challenge with the aim of discovering a process for how the Internet can help with rapid problem solving. How was it won? A group of MIT students used incentive-based collaboration techniques to encourage individuals to share the winning information.
Innocentive is fast becoming the nexus of such competitions. They have the ability to bring together thousands of minds to solve intellectual challenges quickly.
Mr. Kornel reminds us why company culture is important: “Key individuals must be fun to spend time with because at the end of the day, this relationship is like a marriage.”
And to be productive it needs to be a good marriage.
A few weeks ago I reviewed The Levity Effect and wrote a series of posts about levity to go with all the stuff I’ve written about the necessity of fun in the workplace, especially when it comes to innovation.
And just as fun/levity/happy juice a culture of innovation, they have the ability to affect what people do and increase desired actions.
I love reading Steve, besides his undoubted smarts, he often leads me to stuff I wouldn’t find on my own—like thefuntheory.com “an initiative of Volkswagen.”
This site is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better. Be it for yourself, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.
Best it’s a contest that you can enter.
Find your own evidence for the theory that fun is best way to change behavior for the better. For yourself, for the environment or something entirely different.
The site offers 3 examples of how fun got people to pick up trash, recycle more and even take the stairs instead of an escalator (as shown here).
Check out the site, get some friends together, brainstorm and submit ideas by December 15, then come back and tell us what you did.
You have as much chance of winning as anyone else!
Entrepreneurs face difficulties that are hard for most people to imagine, let alone understand. You can find anonymous help and connections that do understand at 7 cups of tea.
Crises never end.
$10 really does make a difference and you’ll never miss it,
Increasing innovation is on every CEO’s mind these days no matter how hot their current product/service, because innovation is what’s necessary to ensure their company’s future success.
Why in the world would I choose a poet who’s life barely reached into the Twentieth Century (1850-1919 to provide insight to both workers and mangers? Because real wisdom is ageless, what changes are the words and style used to communicate it.
It’s something we all know, although we tend to forget, leadership and positional leadership are not the same thing. Because anyone/everyone can lead, within the framework of their own lives, much of the information available about and for positional leaders can be absorbed and used by all.
Do you work at fostering a culture of innovation? Encourage your people to think creatively? Do you want them to come up with ideas, large and small, to improve products and processes?
When possible I prevail on someone I know to attend the major AlwaysOn conferences, usually it’s KG Charles-Harris, but more recently it’s been Chris Blackman.
