an executive's guide to building a culture of innovation
Post on 21-Oct-2014
341 views
DESCRIPTION
Gail Golden, MBA, Ph.D., is Principal of Gail Golden, LLC. As a psychologist and consultant for more than twenty years, Gail has developed deep expertise in helping businesses to build better leaders. In her "Guide to Building a Culture of Innovation” Gail explores the three fundamental elements of innovation programs, reviews organizational frameworks for innovation, and identifies ways to measure innovative success. To learn more visit: www.gailgoldenconsulting.comTRANSCRIPT
1
An Executive’s Guide to Building a Culture of Innovation
2013
Gail Golden, MBA, Ph.D. www.gailgoldenconsulting.com
204/07/2023 22
Objectives
• Strengthen your skills in nurturing an innovative organizational climate
• Identify barriers to innovation in your workplace
04/07/2023 33
Agenda
1. Three fundamental elements in an innovation program
– Think It– Try It– Sell It
2. Organizational frameworks for innovation
3. Ways to measure innovative success
3
04/07/2023 44
1. Three Steps to Innovation
4
THINK IT TRY IT SELL IT
04/07/2023 555
Step 1: Think It
04/07/2023 66
The Goal
• Empower your people to imagine and communicate innovative ideas for the business often.– 3,000 bright ideas
– 100 worthwhile projects
– 4 development programs for new products
The Economist
6
Step 1: Think It
04/07/2023 77
Barriers to Innovative Thinking
• Too busy• Afraid of humiliation• Afraid to take risks• Short-term thinking• Narrow perspective• No access to communication channels
7
Think It
04/07/2023 88
Leadership Attitudes
• Be curious.• Be open to new ideas - suspend judgment.• Be respectful and non-threatening.• Make it fun.• “Knowledge is perishable. Treat it like milk. Date
it.”
8
Think It
04/07/2023 99
Leadership Attitudes
• Look for small innovations, not just blockbusters.• Don’t create two classes of corporate citizens:
“those who have all the fun” and “those who make all the money.”
• Innovators are seldom easy to be around. They can be annoying, touchy, intolerant, and self-aggrandizing.
9
Think It
04/07/2023 1010
Key Leadership Behaviors
10
Think It
• Expect people to submit “Imagination Breakthrough” ideas and reward them when they do. How?
• Search for insights widely – where?
04/07/2023 1111
Example: Innovation Networks
• Build innovation networks, internal and external, focusing on diversity, not number, of contacts.
– Solution networks, geared toward finding answers to specific problems
– Discovery networks, geared toward unearthing new ideas within broad technology or product domains.
11
Think It
04/07/2023 1212
Example: Innovation Networks
• Offer people opportunities to make more money with more risk.
• Accept their surreptitious activities.• Allow them to make decisions based on
incomplete information. • Let them run with promising, if uncertain,
ideas.
12
Think It
04/07/2023 131313
Try It
04/07/2023 1414
The Goal
Sort out which innovative ideas are worth investing in by editing out most of them and concentrating on the ones which add the most value.
14
Try It
04/07/2023 1515
Barriers
• Hard to say no• Projects take on momentum• Hard analytic tasks are not as much fun as
coming up with ideas• “Ready, fire, aim” mentality
15
Try It
04/07/2023 1616
Leadership Attitudes
• Balance enthusiasm with critical thinking.• Use rigorous frameworks to screen ideas.• Show support for people’s creativity even when
their ideas are rejected.• Demonstrate fairness – the quality of the idea is
what matters, not who it comes from.• Fail early, fail often.
16
Try It
04/07/2023 1717
Leadership Behaviors
• Store knowledge—record, track and analyze. Keep a multi-year data base of project reviews.
• Develop new ways of tracking and rewarding the progress of innovations. Rewarding a manager who "sticks to plan" doesn't encourage something new.
17
Try It
04/07/2023 1818
Leadership Behaviors
To increase the number of successful projects per year:
• Reduce the number of active projects.• Increase resource allotment to major projects.• Decrease time to completion.
18
Try It
04/07/2023 1919
Example: Lean Startups
• Use of free and open source software• Application of agile software development
methods• Ferocious customer-centric rapid iteration
Eric Ries
19
Try It
04/07/2023 2020
Leadership Behaviors: The Six Questions
1. How many breakthrough projects in the last 5 years (incremental sales >1% of total sales)?
2. How many active projects do we have in the pipeline?
3. How much time have we committed to each one?
4. Do we have clear review points?
5. How many projects failed to clear the hurdles? How many did we actually kill?
6. What proportion of our budget is for breakthrough projects vs. line extensions?
20
Try It
04/07/2023 2121
Leadership Behaviors
• Clear out “project sludge” • Hold “liberation parties” where projects are killed
off
21
Try It
04/07/2023 2222
Leadership Behaviors
Institute post-failure management:
• Formulate criteria for distinguishing between excusable and inexcusable mistakes
• Glean learnings from both successes and failures
• Senior leaders share stories about their own past failures
• Share the learnings widely
22
Try It
04/07/2023 232323
Sell It
04/07/2023 2424
The Goal
Gain alignment throughout the company, so the organization will aggressively pursue winning innovations.
24
Sell It
04/07/2023 2525
Barriers
• Lack of time• Lack of focus – too many projects• Lack of skill in building networks• Lack of access to decision makers• Politics
25
Sell It
04/07/2023 2626
Leadership Attitudes
• Balancing enthusiasm with hard-headed business acumen
• Paying attention to the impact of the message on the audience
• Open to input, but able to stand his/her ground
26
Sell It
04/07/2023 2727
Leadership Behaviors
• Understand that networks are about give-and-take. Support others’ innovations and they will be more likely to support yours.
• Develop superb presentation skills.
27
Sell It
04/07/2023 2828
Leadership Behaviors
• Link innovative ideas with business strategy and quantitative data.
• Be persistent – timing is everything.• Recognize that you aren’t going to win them all
and know when to let go.
28
Sell It
04/07/2023 292929
2. Organizational Frameworks
04/07/2023 3030
Create an Innovative Business Architecture
Organizational Hardware– Reduce hierarchy– Increase autonomy– Encourage diversity
30
04/07/2023 3131
Innovative Business Architecture
Organizational software– Cooperating norms– Performing norms– Innovating norms
31
04/07/2023 323232
3. Measure Your Success
Survey using “The Group Innovation Scale”
04/07/2023 3333
Group Innovation Scale
1–Agree 2–Somewhat agree 3–Disagree
In-house innovation
1. People on our team generate a lot of new ideas.
2. Our culture makes it easy and comfortable for people to put forward new ideas.
33
Think It
04/07/2023 3434
Group Innovation Scale
1–Agree 2–Somewhat agree 3–Disagree
Cross-fertilization
3. People on our team typically collaborate on projects with others across the company.
34
Think It
04/07/2023 3535
Group Innovation Scale
1–Agree 2–Somewhat agree 3–Disagree
External Idea Sourcing
4. We find a lot of good ideas for new products and services from outside the company.
5. We consider ideas from outside the company to be just as valuable as those invented here.
35
Think It
04/07/2023 3636
Group Innovation Scale
1–Agree 2–Somewhat agree 3–Disagree
Selection6. We have tough rules for investment in new
products, but good ideas get funded.7. People know what the criteria for
investing are.8. We take calculated risks to invest in new
ideas.
36
Try It
04/07/2023 3737
Group Innovation Scale
1–Agree 2–Somewhat agree 3–Disagree
Development
9. We complete most of our new-product-development projects on time.
10. It is pretty easy to get traction to develop new ideas for the business.
37
Try It
04/07/2023 3838
Group Innovation Scale1–Agree 2–Somewhat agree 3–Disagree
Sales
11. We roll out new products and services promptly and efficiently.
12. We are usually ahead of the competition in rolling out our new ideas.
13. We excel at penetrating all channels, customer groups, and regions with new products and services.
38
Sell It
04/07/2023 3939
References
• Beinhocker ED. The adaptable corporation. The McKinsey Quarterly, 2006, 2.
• Day GS. Closing the growth gap: Balancing “Big I” and “small I’ innovation. MSI Reports, 2006, 4.
• Pink D. A whole new mind. New York, Riverhead Books, 2006.• Silverthorne S. Lessons not learned about innovation: Q&A with
Rosabeth Moss Kanter. Harvard Business School, Working Knowledge for Business Leaders, 2006.
• Warren C. Innovation, Inc. American Way, Dec. 15, 2004, 92-98.
39
4004/07/2023 4040
Gail Golden, MBA, Ph.D., is the Principal of Gail Golden Consulting, LLC. As a psychologist and consultant for more than twenty years, Gail has developed deep expertise in helping businesses to build better leaders.
www.gailgoldenconsulting.com
40