I received the following trends alert related to the role of innovation in our current corporate life. By the way, this is a worthwhile thing to subscribe to!
The point of this post is my comments after the alert. Please read!
Herman Trend Alert: Innovation and Entrepreneurship February 24, 2010
For years now, we have seen a growing trend towards "Innovation" being a leading
focus for corporations worldwide. A new book from Robert C. Wolcott and Michael
Lippitz, "Grow from Within: Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation"
(McGraw-Hill 2010), provides a roadmap for effectively creating innovation in
organizations.
Wolcott is the founder and executive director of the Kellogg Innovation Network
(KIN), "a unique forum for select executives and innovation managers to meet and
discuss internal and industry-wide challenges, business growth, risks, and
successful strategies, with academics from the Kellogg School of Management".
Discussed in the book, "Innovation Radar" (IR) grew out of an understanding that
"innovation is about more than just products and technology". Companies can
innovate in any area. Using IR, executives look at 12 dimensions of innovation;
the chart represents all of the activities with which companies can add value.
The valuable part of IR is that it provides a bridge between strategy and
innovation and gives executives the opportunity to have all of their questions
and answers (hopefully) before they begin the strategic process.
Wolcott suggests that entrepreneurs. . ."Be clear about their objectives. Be
clear about their questions. Recognize that "we [often] only see the things for
which we are looking".
The authors also talk about some corporate initiatives that promote innovation,
like IBM's "Global Innovation Outlook" programs and "Innovation Jams". In these
unique in-person and online events, IBM engages people from a wide variety of
enterprises to solve global challenges facing humanity.
In "Saving America: The Generativity Solution" by Robert R. Carkhuff (HRD Press
2010). Moving past any obvious political overtones, Carkhuff believes that the
lack of economic freedom hamstrings entrepreneurship. Defining Generativity as
"the capacity to generate a new idea", the author also provides an organized
approach to innovation. “The Generativity Solution” is the application of
"generativity" to all areas and levels of human endeavor: individuals,
organizations, and all components of the community, culture, and economy. And
that is only the beginning.
Expect innovation to become increasingly important, as the nations of the world
look for answers. Wolcott is right: "Corporate entrepreneurship in all of its
forms is the strategic answer to the challenge of economic growth."
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MY COMMENTS:
Yes in fact, innovation is now more than ever critical as our economic engine sputters along. And yet, here in lies the concern and the reality check. As someone who comes in contact with thousands of managers and team members across North America each year, here is what I've discovered is the reality.
Conformity is the desired behavior! Many people in management and leadership positions have a very low tolerance for diversity and difference and these elements are essential components to innovation.
Many in the very positions who have the power to champion and foster the very innovation needed don't have the emotional intelligence or ego management to create and support the environment necessary for the very thing needed to occur!
I suggest we partner the concept of innovation with the fostering of divergent and contrary thinking. Can we as leaders in the business community handle it? We'll need it to move our economy, businesses, and country forward.
Coaching Question: What is your tolerance for people who are dramtically different from you in every way. How do you feel or handle when people disagree with your position in a definitive and dramatic way?
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