We need to innovate to grow our companies. And, as I have always believed and averred, businesses, governments, and non-profits need to be creative and innovate on a regular, almost continuous, basis. It’s what I have tried to do when I have been a division head, a “skunks works” leader, or CEO/COO of an enterprise.
But, not all companies (or governments or non-profits, to be sure) understand this. One of my first employments involved a “discussion” of the assignment of patents to my employer. I refused to agree to provide a blanket patent assignment to the company. The CEO felt I was being unreasonable. When I asked him how many products (patents) he expected from his good technologists, his reply was 1 to 2 every few years. (Trust me, that number was probably higher than his expectation, but I did not argue with the number.) My position was if I were to develop one new product a year- that should be the company’s. But, any developments beyond that should involve special compensation to me. And, the company would get to choose which one it wanted each year. He eventually agreed (only after there were multiple products in the pipeline and no patent assignation on file from me)- and we parted company soon, thereafter.
We can and should institutionalize creativity and innovation within our enterprises. It’s not something our politicians can do or lead for our companies (they can do so for their departments or agencies, though). Developing products or processes or systems on a continuous basis needs to become the norm for American firms. It not only helps our enterprises (governments, businesses, and non-profits), but it exhilarates the creative types to see their innovation put to use or in the marketplace. But, what process can we use to insure that we DO continually innovate.
Robert F. Brands has been studying the process and developed a series of principles we can use as a framework. His book (published by Wiley- you can buy it by clicking here) is called “Robert’s Rules of Innovation”. Brand made it easier to recall the ten rules by employing mnemonic device of “INNOVATION” to describe the ten rules.
Here is the gist of some of his ten rules:
- Inspiration. Young firms need the founder or the CEO to provide this. It requires personal and routine involvement. However, I think one needs to go one step further- the leader must inspire passion! Talent is not the issue- it’s the passion to employ it, why it’s worth doing.
- Innovation MEANS risk. Brands knows that not every idea should or will be a winner. There is a definite risk to trying things new. The trick is to not punish folks for trying this new things. We have become conditioned to seek guarantees; our commitment to the process will always yield that successful outcomes. Once we recognize this is probably impossible, we start to hedge our bets, and decrease our ability to create. (Moreover, the risk in doing the same thing is that others will capitalize on our inability/undersirability to change. market share and profits are at risk either way!)
- Formalization of the product development process. One needs timelines and milestones. Brands believes one must include the elements of idea generation, prioritization, prototyping, commercialization, and measurement as part of this process.
- Accountability. One must be responsible for timely delivery and meeting deadlines. Without accountability, there is no trust among the team members.
- Incentivize the participants. As I explained above, all the team members must feel that their contributions are valued. The reward need not be financial, so long as valid recognition and honor are involved.
You need to recognize that studying his book and adopting his methods alone will not insure your success. Change is not only difficult, but resisted by most humans. You must provide that continuous leadership, vision, and goal setting. Our company culture were derived as a means to sustain the status quo. But, to have a competitive advantage, the status quo can no longer be acceptable. For a new company, the founders must keep this principle paramount each and every day and formulate it as part of the culture.. The culture of an existing enterprise must be re-structured to embrace change and enthuse the stakeholders. Because innovation is the only key to long term success.
Ya, but someone needs to “buy” your ideas. And that is the toughest part…convincing people that your idea just might work!
One of your best posts!
Hajra- glad you like it! Trust me, I know the problem of selling ideas. I ran a contract R&D shop for decades. We worked with big (and small) firms developing new products- pushing the envelope. One of our biggest problems was being decades ahead of the market. We developed water recycling systems for the home, drinking water systems, home dry-cleaning products, among other things that languished for decades…
Oh, well. That’s the life of an inventor…
Take care.
Roy
Another great post but I don’t know if I quite agree with your title. We have become risk adverse in many aspects of our life but thrill seeking (the ultimate risk) in other.
It seems sad that many bosses have that former employer of yours did – they risk loss with that kind of attitude – losing the innovators, damping the innovation of others and sadder still – limiting the opportunities. They risk failure by not understanding that success is like walking, falling forward constantly and carefully planned and monitored
The problem, Roberta, is that we do promote risk-aversion. And, therefore, miss out on the best possibilities out there.
It’s how we get out of stuck- look for something different, grab onto it, test it, and use it.
Thanks for your comments.
Roy
Roy;
So true! The old rules don’t work anymore, we all need to be innovate and stand out to be successful!
Also, thanks for the book recommendation, sounds interesting!
Maureen Wielansky recently posted..FIT Friday- How to Keep Things Spicy!
Maureen:
You are doing the same thing with your programs. Being creative, pushing the envelope, and working for the best results possible.
Thanks for posting.
Roy
I was just discussing this yesterday and I like the point you made about institutionalizing creativity. We were talking about how being creative means that some things will fail. But this is not necessary a bad thing. Give people the opportunity to be creative also means giving them the permission to experiment using trial and error and naturally like you said it best, risk is unavoidable.
Diana Simon recently posted..From Blogging Skeptic to Fan
Diana: Your post was a bookend to this one. We absolutely need to promote people trying out things. We absolutely cannot expect everything to work. It’s what pharaceutical firms used to do- but don’t. It’s what 3-M made its fortune by! Maybe, we should just try “back to the future”- get the instant gratification requirement off the table and seek out those Eureka moments.
Brands’ ideas would work very well in the American schools today. If only the federal government would realize that people perform at their best when not weighted down with an encylcopedia-sized list of rules, regulations, and idea-killers. The children would do so much better too, if the schools were run with these ideas in mind. They’d work for kids too, with a good teacher to keep things moving and on track, or at least on a good alternate path!
Inspiration and risk are inherent in true learning. If only…
Paula Lee Bright recently posted..I’m In a Teacher’s State of Mind- My Dream School
Paula:
There are too many politicians with their fingers in the education pie, right now. Whether you liked her tactics or not, Michelle Rhee, got the politicians out of the pie for a little bit. Who knows what would have happened. Maybe Bill Gates can make a difference with his efforts. Something has to be done, though!
Thanks for bringing the education piece to the innovation discussion. Too many folks seem to forget it’s desperately needed there, too!
Roy
It’s nice when the leader has a “we’re all in this together” outlook that is passed on to the team members. When the leader actually inspires, people WANT to work and it becomes their passion.
You are absolutely right, Martha. It’s what separates the great organization from the ones that wish they were. I hope my folks always feel that way. Thanks for bringing it up!
Roy