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5 Jul 2010 05:16 PM
Why this topic is important – The compelling business case for addressing it
There are many ways of looking at innovation. Some people view innovation as having breakthrough ideas, creating new processes, finding improvements, or doing anything to value-add in the organisation. Others view innovation as product improvements, creative initiatives in the organisation or anything deemed commercially viable after being evaluated.
There are also practitioners who feel that innovation involves creating something new and has tangible value. Creativity is not enough. Innovation takes place when there is transformation of creative ideas into practical actions. Creativity per se is not enough. Creative ideas must be implementable for innovation to happen in organisations. Nevertheless, creativity must come first before innovation takes place.
Innovation is important due to stiff competition, shorter product life-cycles, higher cost of doing business, increasing consumer expectations, etc. Innovation is key to survival. Innovation helps the organisation to differentiate itself in the market. In order to stay relevant, the organisation needs to be innovative. Innovation is a value-proposition to consumers. Experience tells us that innovative organisations are better able to attract and retain employees.
What is the outcome we are trying to achieve
Instilling cultures in organizations to promote innovation - the way things are done, employees can sense it. Creating a conducive environment for innovation to take place and thrive in the organization.Creating an organization that embraces change - Innovation involves change.
Goran Ekvall & Scott Isaken identified 9 dimensions of Climate of Innovation.
1. Challenge (How challenged, emotionally involved & committed are employees to the work?)
2. Freedom (How free is the staff to decide how to do their job?)
3. Idea Time (Do employees have time to think things through before having to act?)
4. Idea Support (Are these resources to give new ideas a try?)
5. Trust & Openness (Do people feel safe speaking their minds & offering different points of view?)
6. Playfulness & Humor (How relaxed is the workplace - is it okay to have fun?)
7. Conflicts (To what degree do people engage in interpersonal conflict or warfare?)
8. Debates (To what degree do people engage in lively debates about the issues?)
9. Risk Taking (Is it okay to fail?)
1. Challenges of managing tension between individual’s creativity and the organisation’s interests.
2. Resources (protected time, budget , rewards, authority) required to innovate.
3. Will and mindset of leadership to innovate - moving from operational short-term thinking to strategic long-term thinking.
Issues of the Day
Top 3 Ideas
- The role of empowerment in promoting a culture of innovation.
- Leadership practices in promoting a culture of innovation.
- The importance of communication in promoting a culture of innovation.
Other Issues
1. Challenges of managing tension between individual’s creativity and the organisation’s interests:
Autonomy versus compliance
Risk-taking versus No mistakes
Working alone versus Team-work
2. Resources (protected time, budget , rewards, authority) required to innovate:
Protected time for idea generation
Budget for experimentation
Rewards to motivate good ideas
Authority to empower employees
3. Will and mindset of leadership to innovate. Moving from operational short-term thinking to strategic long-term thinking:
Moving from operational short-term thinking to strategic long-term thinking
Relying less on external control (by rules & regulation) and resorting more to empowerment.
Changing leadership mindset from avoiding mistakes to learn from mistakes
Summary of Learning
Empowerment Discussion
- Top management needs to identify the scope of empowerment for the organization.
- Employees are empowered to work within the scope as defined by the top management.
- It is important for information to flow freely within the organization to ensure that everyone understand the issues facing the organization.
- Timely and valid information are key to effective empowerment in the organization.
- CoP is a mechanism for “empowerment” discussion
- Empowerment at different levels in the organisation
- Manager who empowers is still “accountable” in his responsibility
- Communication between departments is very important (emails, calls, sms)
- Empowerment requires follow-up
- Eg. Ritz Carlton Front Office staff have been empowered to handle issues up to $2K without consulting heads (Culture of Empowerment)
- However the scope & the limits of empowerment need to be defined according to the level of staff
- Can we set a dollar value to empower staff?
- What are the monetary amounts for the executive level? For non-executives?
- Can you do better if you are empowered, is there a relation between empowerment and increase in innovation?
- Justification of why you waived certain costs or offered freebies/meal vouchers is needed. There has to be a system.
Factors for a Conducive Environment
1) People
a. Its important to have a sense of belonging to the organisation
b. Recognition of their work
c. Management of trainees to create one
2) Training
a. Everyone must have a clear mindset/objective
b. Centralised training to ensure uniformity
c. On the Job Training
d. Consistency of Training from batch to batch
Evaluation of Quality of Sharing and Learning
- The discussion focused mainly on the role of empowerment in promoting a culture of innovation.
- There was in-depth discussion on some of the operational issues in the company.
- Participants were able to identify specific opportunities to streamline operations to improve productivity.
- It is heartening to observe that participants were open in their discussion even though their top management was in the discussion group.
last edited by HCS Content Administrato on 12/26/2010 11:42:59 PM