Discussion Assignment -Business Writer

mcyrayvahgr

WhatKillsInnovationYourRoleAsALeaderInSupportinganInnovativeCultureU2D1.pdf

Home >Business & Finance homework help >Management homework help >Discussion Assignment -Business Writer

Find a copy

Abstract

Full Text

Back to previous page

document 1 of 1

What kills innovation? Your role as a leader in supporting an innovative culture

Soken, Nelson H; B. Kim Barnes. Industrial and Commercial Training; Guilsborough 46.1 (2014): 7-15.

http://wv9lq5ld3p.search.serialssolutions.com.library.capella.edu?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/ProQ%

3Acentral&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Industrial+and+Commercial+Training&rft.atitle=What+kills+innovation%

3F+Your+role+as+a+leader+in+supporting+an+innovative+culture&rft.au=Soken%2C+Nelson+H%

3BB.+Kim+Barnes&rft.aulast=Soken&rft.aufirst=Nelson&rft.date=2014-01-

01&rft.volume=46&rft.issue=1&rft.spage=7&rft.isbn=&rft.btitle=&rft.title=Industrial+and+Commercial+Training&rft.issn=00197858&rft_id=info:doi/10.1108%

2FICT-09-2013-0057

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to suggest a set of leadership practices that can help to build and sustain a culture of innovation.

Design/methodology/approach - The article is based on the authors' many years of consulting and facilitating learning experiences in innovation management

in a broad range of organizations. The authors have observed that specific leadership and management practices seem to be strongly related to the success or

failure of organizations in building self-renewing innovation environments. Findings - Leadership and management behaviors that engender fear, a lack of

focus and communication about organizational innovation strategy, a paucity of resources (time, money, encouragement) are among the factors that make

innovation less likely or less successful. A clearly communicated purpose, the ability to accept and use failure, and an accessible process for getting a hearing

on ideas are among the supportive factors. Practical implications - Many leaders understand that innovation is key to their organization's ability to survive in a

connected and competitive business environment. Fewer understand and/or are willing to make the changes that will create and sustain a culture of

innovation. Leaders who are willing to adopt some of these practices are likely to achieve better results in encouraging talented people to contribute their

capabilities, ideas and efforts to strategic innovation initiatives. Originality/value - Successful innovation is not created through magic and good fortune. It is

the product of strategic thinking, a supportive culture, great talent, managers who know when to be involved and when to step back, and leaders who listen,

support risk, and learn from failure.

Listen

Executives see innovation as the way to long-term success. According to a McKinsey worldwide survey, over 70 percent of the executives view innovation as

one of their top three growth drivers over the next three to five years. These organizations have incorporated innovation into their vision, mission, and

strategy. One of the first issues that arises is that many of them do not have a common definition of innovation. People in these organizations often conflate

creativity and innovation. They may believe that it belongs in the marketing department or R&D. If innovation is to be an important factor in organizational

strategy, the word must have a shared meaning to everyone in the organization. In the managing innovation course developed by David Francis, PhD and B.

Kim Barnes, innovation is defined as "optimizing the potential benefits embedded in an idea that is new to you". Two concepts contained in this definition are

that innovation is about creating value and that it requires individuals and organizations to embrace something new. It is not just about generating good ideas,

but also about taking these good ideas and bringing them to fruition. Innovation requires people to change and move beyond the status quo. Vision,

motivation, focus, perseverance, and leadership guidance are required to achieve success.

In that same McKinsey survey, 65 percent of the executives surveyed are disappointed with their ability to stimulate innovation in their organizations. It is not

as if these leaders and organizations are not investing in innovation. They invest in workshops on innovation, experts come in to consult with leaders on

innovation strategy or recommend building "creative spaces." They recognize that creating a positive and cheerful workplace is important to employee

engagement and productivity. Unfortunately, they see few new products or services emerge from their development teams. They find that clunky processes

continue to slow things down. The mood and climate of the organization's physical and social environment remain dull, subdued; even, at times, depressing.

Page 1 of 7

10/13/2017https://search-proquest-com.library.capella.edu/printviewfile?accountid=27965

People celebrate Fridays and hate Mondays. Talented individuals leave for greener pastures at other companies that they perceive as more exciting. What's

wrong with this picture? Frustrated leaders throw up their hands and ask themselves and others, "What am I supposed to do to create a real culture of

innovation?" Richard Danzig, former US Secretary of the Navy, states in the February-March, 2000 issue of the magazine, Civilization : "Organizations are a

kind of fossil record of what bothered their predecessors. That record should be studied, he argues, to anticipate better how organizations will change. The

issue is not whether they will encounter different types of crises; they will. The issue is whether or not they will change fast enough to be prepared for those

crises when they occur."

What are the barriers to an innovative culture? Employees (and ex-employees) often cite the following factors in describing the human environment of

organizations that have lost or never had a culture that is supportive of creativity and innovation:

- Fear and punishment (cannot co-exist with a willingness to take the risks that innovation requires).

- Lack of meaning (if you do not know where you are going, any road will get you there - no vision; no innovation).

- Not seeing that you make a difference (if your work falls into a black hole and seems disconnected from organizational vision and goals - why bother?).

- Loss of confidence (if you only hear about what does not work and never hear any appreciation, you may start to discount your own ideas).

- Resentment and frustration (why should you do something above and beyond for an organization that does not treat you well?).

- Lack of control, powerlessness (micromanagement and inability to make decisions kill initiative).

- Win/lose mentality - internecine warfare (we have met the enemy and he is us).

- Incessant distraction, clutter, and busyness that fills people's time, saps them of their natural creative energy and excitement, and wears them down (time-

intensive activities that at times feel meaningless and counterproductive to progress, such as sitting in endless meetings. How can you innovate if you do not

have the time to think?).

- Implicit and explicit reinforcement of the status quo (if you step out of line, you will be pulled back into the fold or be pushed out).

- Lack of flexibility and openness to new opportunities and/or ways to measure their potential value (if you do not have an enormous set of slides with reams

of statistical data about a potential customer or new offering, it must not be a worthwhile innovation to pursue).

- The physical and social environment is sterile, more focused on uniformity - sometimes called alignment - than on stimulating individuality, creativity, and

out-of-the-box ideas and behaviors (the "organizational immune reaction" kills anything that generates variability and non-conformity).

A total of 94 percent of the executives in the McKinsey survey concluded that people and culture are the most important drivers of innovation in organizations.

Business leaders need, first of all, to recognize that their organizations are not machines but rather are comprised of human beings with all their assets and

liabilities. The human environment of an organization can be friendly or hostile to innovation and creativity.

If people and culture drive innovation, how can leaders create and sustain an environment that is conducive to innovation? In an Oliver Wyman and the

Economist Intelligence Unit survey, executives from 17 industries worldwide identified proactive leadership as a major factor in the success or failure of efforts

to foster an organizational environment that is supportive, open, and conducive to innovation and intelligent risk-taking. Leaders of organizations need to

establish clarity of purpose around innovation so that people feel that the organization truly sees innovation as a business priority.

Successful innovation requires true leadership, not just good management. Some leaders see their role as primarily focused on directing and controlling people

and resources to accomplish desired goals. True leaders engage people at a different level of interaction and relationship. These leaders focus on inspiring

employees with a common vision, mission, and values. They engage their team members; encouraging them to bring all their skills and energy to bear in

order to achieve important results. Leaders of successfully innovative organizations encourage an organizational climate that harnesses employee's natural

energy, creative spirit, and desire to do amazing things. They provide a laser focus on a common set of goals.

Beyond sharing or co-developing the vision, mission, and strategy of the organization, what do leaders need to do to foster a culture of innovation? How can

they establish and share norms and values that support innovation? Leaders need to develop the appropriate mindsets and skill-sets to foster and support

innovation and encourage others to do the same. Self-reflection and self-awareness are fundamental to having an impact on the organizational climate.

All of us can learn to adapt our mindset and learn skills around innovation; however, a recent Harvard Business Review article by Cohn, Katzenbach, and Vlak

entitled "Finding and grooming breakthrough innovators" states that only 5-10 percent of high-potential managers have the skills to be breakthrough

innovators ([3] Cohn et al. , 2008). The authors highlight the importance of identifying and nurturing leaders who are particularly adept at demonstrating an

innovation mindset. This requires them to recognize what they are good at and to be unthreatened by others with different skills - team members who will

help the organization stay at the cutting edge and bring unique value to the organization. These leaders should be nurtured through challenging assignments

and provided with the support of high-profile mentors and peer networks at the highest levels of the organization. Ultimately, these individuals should be

placed in the middle of an organization so they can influence from an "out of the box" position that goes across organizational boundaries. They can then serve

as the focus of "innovation hubs." Let's consider innovation issues from the point-of-view of such a leader.

Clarifying your purpose in your area of influence

Innovation is not generic. In practice, it is focused on specific arenas. In order to focus the innovation energy of the people in your organization, you need to

be open and clear about your approach to innovation.

Communicating a clear purpose related to innovation requires considerable skill. The message needs to go beyond an intellectual and analytical statement of

the vision, mission, and strategy. It is as much about the heart as it is the mind; it has to be practiced as well as preached:

- Have you made the innovation vision, mission, and strategy "real" to the employees in your area of influence and demonstrated that you are truly committed

to it and sincere about its importance? What are you doing to motivate and inspire; to capture employees' hearts around innovation?

Page 2 of 7

10/13/2017https://search-proquest-com.library.capella.edu/printviewfile?accountid=27965

- Have you considered measuring innovation efforts differently from regular projects? For example, P&G measures total input and output rather than individual

projects - rather like a venture portfolio with varied opportunities maturing at different times.

- Are there clear customer and business needs identified and prioritized to demonstrate that innovation is truly a top priority? Does everyone know what he or

she should focus on? Do you identify high-profile, well-established leaders to drive these efforts?

- What are you doing to infuse your employees with energy and a sense of urgency that inspires them to make a real commitment? How do you gain their

trust and confidence and provide a realistic sense of security about the future?

- Do you regularly communicate to your employees why innovation is important? Do you let them know what we need to worry about in the external

competitor and business environment so we have a context for why we are doing what we are doing?

Practicing what you preach

Albert Schweitzer once said: "Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." Set an example that generates trust and confidence

through your actions. Communicate openly about organizational goals, how the organization is doing, and what employees can do that will contribute to

achieving the goals. Let people know where innovation is welcome and encouraged. Ask for ideas and suggestions and listen deeply before evaluating them

positively or negatively:

- Do you always keep the door open to your employees? Are you generous with information that affects them? Well-informed employees are more eager and

better prepared to participate.

- Do you encourage a wide variety of ideas, including ones that make you and others uncomfortable? Do you seek diverse perspectives?

- Do you suspend judgment, and avoid evaluating ideas either positively or negatively before they have been well developed? Do you ensure that there is a

large number of ideas under consideration before you express your opinion or preference? Early positive evaluation of one idea by a leader can channel the

discussion in a particular direction and make it difficult for unusual ideas to get a hearing.

- Do you model desired behaviors? Are you consistent in what you say and what you do? (For example, do you encourage intelligent risk-taking and reward

"good" failures - those that are the result of making a courageous and informed choice?).

Taking risks

Risk is inherent in innovation. There is a chance that your idea will not work, be too costly, or too late to the market. Your customers may not see a need for it

or your competitors may capture the market before you get there. Successful innovation requires tolerance for risk, ambiguity, and failure:

- Are you willing to share your own personal experiences with failure in order to create an open atmosphere for discussing failure and risk-taking?

- Do you share the challenges of innovation with your team so that they feel like everyone is in it together when it comes to risk-taking and decision making?

- Have you given employees specific guidance on what they should do when it comes to risk-taking; in particular telling them where risk-taking is desired and

where it is not?

- Do you find ways of turning setbacks and failures to your advantage by learning from the experiences? Do you encourage open discussion around failures

and openly evaluate team performance?

- Do the areas of focus and resources tend to go to "sacred cows" that made the organization successful in past or is there greater emphasis and resources

invested in pursuing new opportunities for the future?

- Do you encourage and support prototyping and pilot testing to generate data cheaply and quickly? Do you seek out a variety of opinions to assess the

potential value of an innovation?

- Do you encourage a "fail-fast" approach? Do you ask your team to do multiple prototyping to learn what works best rather than focusing too early on one

approach?

- Steve Jobs once said: "Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." Are you pushing your team to

identify the "idea killer" issues earlier in the process and force them to deal with the issues sooner rather than later?

Creating and sustaining a team

Most innovations require teamwork. Rarely will one person have all the skills and knowledge needed for an innovative project. Internal competitiveness and a

lack of trust and respect are fatal for collaboration:

- Do you lead by example? Sometimes chipping in with the work that others have to do builds trust and respect and creates a sense of teamwork around a

sometimes risky and lonely endeavor (as long as you do not micro-manage it).

- Do you create informal settings and/or celebrations to discuss how things are going as well as to celebrate progress?

- Do you show up and participate? Are you a visible supporter of innovation efforts? Do employees know you are there to protect them? Particularly in

innovation efforts, people need to have a protector who helps them overcome obstacles, provide resources, run interference, and shield them from the

organizational immune response (e.g. persecution, mockery, and even deliberate sabotage).

- Do you encourage constructive and creative debate around ideas but manage it so it is not personal and destructive?

- Do you spend time listening to others without judgment?

- Do you seek out, protect, and support people who are different and push against the status quo in an effort to make the organization better?

Page 3 of 7

10/13/2017https://search-proquest-com.library.capella.edu/printviewfile?accountid=27965

- Have you earned the trust of innovators and their associates so you can serve as an arbitrator between innovators and the rest of the organization?

Navigating the organization for innovation success

Many good ideas may walk out the door of your organization every day because people do not know how to get a hearing, a sponsor, or the resources they

need to move their ideas into action:

- Is there a clear and well-understood process for innovation so everyone knows where they are at any time?

- How are ideas identified and explored? Do people know what to do if they have an idea to propose? Do they know who by and how the ideas will be

evaluated and a decision made? Are they informed about the decision criteria? How is the decision communicated?

- Do people know how to find facilitators, sponsors, or advocates to help move an idea through the decision process?

- Is there an established funding mechanism that is explicit and transparent for innovation - that shows that the organization is serious about innovation? Is

this funding process part of the overall annual operating plan process?

- Do you spend time coaching others on how to navigate the organization and more successfully influence key stakeholders?

- Do you stretch boundaries appropriately to provide space for innovation? For example, do you allow for variability when it does not cause harm and may

result in positive outcomes? Too much control, unreasonable metrics, processes, deliverables, deadlines, and organizational policies can kill new ideas and

suck the energy out of people.

- Are you an advocate for efforts to generate organizational innovation energy such as stimulating physical environments, social networks,

creativity/brainstorming sessions, events such as innovation fairs or contests, flexible organizational structures and processes?

Measuring and rewarding innovation

To succeed in innovation, the organization needs to have an environment that supports the identification, development, and implementation of innovative

ideas. Employees need to hear a clear message that the organization expects them to take initiative and try new ways of doing things. What does it take to

create an atmosphere that clearly drives these expectations?

Are your employees rewarded for identifying and implementing innovative ideas?

Are "good tries" (intelligent risk-taking) rewarded as well as successes?

Are people recognized for making good risk decisions before the outcome can be known?

Have you established clear metrics so everyone knows where they stand and what is expected of them? This discipline makes everyone feel more secure and

provides a clear sense that there is leadership on innovation. Some things to consider when establishing metrics include:

- Focus metrics on what matters.

- Limit the number of metrics so people do not get overwhelmed and lose track of the purpose of metrics: to measure progress toward value creation.

- Review metrics constantly to make sure you are getting what you want out of them.

- Make sure that the metrics are aligned with the organization's objectives.

- Make sure the metrics are linked to the performance management system because what gets measured is, typically, what gets done.

Are you patient and willing to nurture good ideas over time?

Are you willing to identify qualitative (e.g. customer feedback) as well as quantitative measures?

Do you make timely and sound decisions with good rationale about which ideas to pursue and which to reject? Do the decisions stick?

Busting boundaries

Do you encourage customer interaction and understanding? A.G. Lafley once said: "You need creativity and invention, but until you can connect that creativity

to the customer in the form of a product or a service that meaningfully changes their lives [...] you don't yet have innovation." And "[...] the consumer is boss.

If we can develop better ways of learning from them - by listening to them, observing them in their daily lives, and even living with them - then our mission is

more likely to succeed" ([7] Lafley and Charan, 2008). What are you doing to encourage and develop your own and your employee's skills to learn directly

from your customers - skills that go beyond just talking to them?

Do you encourage expansive thinking and action rather than an overly controlled and limited perspective based on the status quo?

Are you developing your discovery skills as a leader and encouraging others in these skills as well? According to [6] Agatha Gilmore (2010) in an article

entitled, "Five secrets of great innovators," innovators have four discovery skills that need to be identified and nurtured:

- associating; connecting seemingly unrelated things and cutting through a lot of data quickly to identify the key issues;

- questioning; having an open mind and always asking "why?" "why not?" and "what if?;" looking at problems with fresh eyes;

- observing the marketplace, including the behavior of potential customers; and

Page 4 of 7

10/13/2017https://search-proquest-com.library.capella.edu/printviewfile?accountid=27965

- experimenting; prototyping and pilot-testing new ideas; consciously networking with a diverse group of people to share insights and expand one's knowledge

base.

Do you encourage employees to look outside of themselves - beyond their colleagues, friends, organization, and company? P&G fights NIH (not invented here)

with PFE (proudly found elsewhere).

What are you doing to break down organizational silos? In particular, do you discourage employee behavior that optimizes for personal or group benefit at the

expense of greater organizational good? Are you balancing internal competition so that the results are fruitful and productive rather than uncontrolled and

destructive, with competing groups sabotaging each other for personal gain?

Do you encourage and visibly support information and insight sharing within and outside typical organizational boundaries? (For example, encouraging and

sponsoring book/journal clubs, conference attendance, and collaborative problem-solving sessions where diverse groups gather to share insights).

Does each employee feel a sense of personal responsibility and are they empowered to establish a supportive innovation climate in his or her area of influence

across organizational boundaries?

Focusing on what matters

In the end, leaders are the people we look to for guidance in setting our priorities and focusing our energy. We need our leaders to help us see what is truly

important about our work; how we are contributing to our customers, and our communities; how what we do makes a difference.

A broad perspective combined with self-awareness, high energy and a fierce focus on what is most important creates inspiring leadership:

- Are you aware of your preferences and habits of response about risk/reward and innovation? Do you hire those with the talents and expertise you lack?

- Do you work at creating an upbeat environment at work?

- Do you broaden your cultural and social horizons beyond your usual experience? Learning to see things from different perspectives will give you greater

flexibility in problem solving at work.

- In a rapidly changing world, are you willing to venture in new directions to seize new opportunities and learn new skills?

- Do you work at seeing the perspective of others when it comes to innovation? What data is sufficient to measure innovation (e.g. leading versus lagging

indicators)? What's the best way to communicate to stakeholders who have a different view of innovation?

- Are you willing to look at your own assumptions and any organizational "sacred cows" and open your mind to alternatives?

If leaders who see innovation as a critical growth imperative are to succeed, they have to be proactive in addressing these and other important issues around

people and culture. Leaders ultimately have to take responsibility for influencing the organization and its members to embrace innovation and to make it

everyone's responsibility to foster a culture that supports innovation and intelligent risk-taking. As Jim [4] Collins (2009) states: "Whether you prevail or fail,

endure or die, depends more on what you do to yourself than on what the world does to you."

References

3. Cohn, J., Katzenbach, J. and Vlak, G. (2008), "Finding and grooming breakthrough innovators", Harvard Business Review, Vol. 86 No. 12, pp. 62-70.

4. Collins, J. (2009), How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In, HarperCollins, New York, NY.

6. Gilmore, A. (2010), "Five secrets of great innovators", Chief Learning Officer Magazine, February.

7. Lafley, A.G. and Charan, R. (2008), The Game-Changer: How You Can Drive Revenue and Profit Growth with Innovation, Crown Business, New York, NY.