In the reading “Innovation Leadership: How to use innovation to lead effectively, work
collaboratively, and drive results” by David Horth, we learn about leadership as it pertains to
innovating and changing the way we typically work. The article speaks on how we can change
and adapt our style of thinking when it comes to challenges in the workplace. Horth aims to
address the established framework of thinking when it comes to dealing with these challenges.
Finding new ways that are innovative in thinking versus doing the same thing over and over,
while getting the same result. The article also gives a step-by-step process in what you should
be looking for if you are trying to change your leadership style that is more innovative and
rewarding.
This article provides a different approach to what we have been learning all these years.
Finding new ways to get the best out of our employees has not been easy, especially with the
ever-changing landscape within each generation and not to mention the culture and work
environments. Within the article we find the 6 innovative thinking skills to get you started on a
track to become a better innovative leader.
Before we get into the reasons as to why we should adapt to a new way of thinking, let’s
look at what we need to start. According to the article there is a two-tiered approach that can be
the difference maker within the organization that you are currently in. The two steps are
innovative leadership and leadership for innovation. For the first, innovative leadership is being
able to apply innovative thinking within the leadership tasks. The second, gives you a rule when
trying to lead this change. The rule is led through innovation rather than managing the
innovation. Giving people free reign within the guidelines to come up with new ways and ideas.
In today’s world there is no doubt that our managers don’t lack the basics when it comes
to thinking of ideas, theories, and information. The difference that we are looking for now is the
adaptation from making informed quick decisions to finding different ways of getting to the
answer and being able to see there is more than one option. We are not looking for the “right”
answer, rather the answer that is going to make the most sense. Taking away the black and
white approach to maybe going into the gray area when making decisions not just using the
“right answer among the wrong answers” (Horth 2014 pg. 6).
The six innovative thinking skills are, paying attention, personalizing, imaging, serious
play, collaborative inquiry, and crafting. These skills give you the tools we need to adapt our
business thinking to innovative thinking. Given my past experiences I will share a few points that
have helped me through this adaptation in my own leadership style. First, is paying attention, in
the article it states, “paying attention is the ability to notice what has gone unnoticed” Horth
2014, pg. 8). We need to be able to get self-information for ourselves to better see other
opportunities or options we hadn’t thought of yet. Getting the different points of view in order to
understand the problem and analyze it. Asking for feedback from others as you also view the
opportunity from a different lens.
Personalizing is also important in the process as you bring others along with you on the
journey of discovery. This allows you to draw from yours and their vast experiences and utilize it
in a way that is helpful in finding solutions. We are all different, bringing diversity in this step
could also be a huge advantage for those that seek it. Share your thoughts and ideas with each
other from your experiences to find out what has worked in the past with similar situations.
The skill that I think is the most important when it comes to becoming an innovative
leader is the sixth skill, collaborative inquiry. All the steps have something in common, that is to
be collaborative with each other to come up with the best solution. We pull from the experiences
that each person has, along with the diverse thinking it brings to come up with a collaborative
effort in decision making. This puts everything on the table as it pertains to solutions to come up
with the best one for the opportunity. This step promotes the thought of sharing ideas while
uncovering the issues that are trying to be addressed. Giving those the ownership will create a
better environment for everyone involved.
I wanted to give a perspective of mine in leading and experimenting with this change
within my own approach. The company I work for is very well known and has set ways of doing
things. Some of the leaders that I have worked for have called this “tribal knowledge”, where
individuals continue to tell each other what the right thing to do is and continue that trend. I was
an external hire into a company that uses the innovative approach. When I go into work, I try to
find different ways of accomplishing the goal each day while looking for opportunities to
continue to make it better.
One example of this is when I came into a store that had a manager that was recently
promoted. This information is important because the people that worked at that store always
thought they were doing the right thing because the store was deemed successful by many.
Having an innovative mindset, I challenged the status quo of my team in trying to think of new
and better ways we can fix some opportunities. I drew from their knowledge and understanding
to find the gaps and opportunities to find a solution together. I changed their mindset in not only
looking at one metric of the business, but looking at it in something that was not as measurable.
Instead, we took a look at what we all want satisfaction in this type of business which was the
experience. We become fixated on the metric when in reality if we looked at the experience for
both the employee and the customer, we can expect at that point to have each metric fall in line.
I continued to gather feedback and thoughts on what they thought would work best and had
amazing results at the end. Working through problems with each other while building culture
and ownership of the store is the leadership skill I want to obtain. By doing all these steps we
can become innovative leaders for the world that is changing constantly with different
generations and ways of thinking.
