Innovation

Why people don’t like innovation sessions – 7 things you can do to fix it

Published date: September 23, 2023 в 3:10 pm

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Category: Innovation,Innovation Facilitation

I find that when you invite your coworkers to an innovation session you generally receive one of these responses:

  1. Amazing! Can’t wait to have a day to meet with passionate like-minded people and really crack this topic.
  2. If you can’t find anyone else…
  3. Can’t make it.
  4. (Radio silence).

The WSJ recently posted an article citing research that giving workers alone time could yield more innovation than getting everyone in a room.

For companies who really pride themselves on innovation (don’t we all?), why is there so much negativity to attend these sessions?

I think it boils down to what  happens inside the session room, what happens before people enter the room, and what happens after people leave the room. When a session is prepared, executed and packaged properly, I fully believe that two heads are still better than one.

And so, here are seven tips on how to make your sessions worth people’s while, where they feel they can truly contribute to be agents of change:

  1. Define a clear goal and scope of the challenge, and make it clear to yourself, stakeholders and participants. If it’s too broad or large a topic, break it down into manageable nuggets otherwise people will be highly doubtful that anything can be accomplished in the timeframe (and annoyed if they were right).  If the topic is smaller scale, maybe you don’t need to bring in the cavalry just yet and you can grab 3-4 folks to think it out with you.
  2. Plan and pick your time wisely and well: How much time do you really need for your session? Make sure your goals and deliverables match the time you have. If you have a full day, plan for it in a way that’s productive, and not dragged out. Everyone will always be happy to finish early. (In fact, I know an L&D professional who always plans innovation days to end an hour before the regular work day as a perk.) If you only have two hours, assess how your topic can be covered in this timeframe, and if not modify accordingly. Extra time you don’t need will make people feel resentful. Too little time on a big topic will make people feel like they haven’t scratched the surface and whatever time they did put in was for nought. Lastly, give some thought to the day of the week the session falls out on. A Thursday or Friday session could have people worrying about finishing other deadlines they have before the weekend, making them less than thrilled to participate.
  3. Make your innovation session walk the talk: An innovation session by name and definition is different from a regular business status  meeting. The danger that lies in these sessions is when in an effort to stimulate creativity they become too gimmicky for anyone to take them seriously. Yet, if it is run in the same dry business-like manner as regular team meetings, it might not be terribly conducive to thinking in new unexplored directions. It’s a fine line to find the right methodologies that will give you the results you need, without making people in the room feel ridiculous, bored, or that they are oranges that need to be squeezed. Ask yourself – would I want to be doing this activity?
  4. Have the right (and the right amount of) people in the room: People are your number one resource. You need their knowledge, expertise, experience, and gumption. But how do you choose who should participate? First, build a heterogenous team that is familiar with the topic from different angles so ideas can be initially evaluated on the spot (without having to keep marking them “ask the guys from engineering” or “ask John” and everyone  is frustrated why John isn’t here).  This will help keep you on target with what can and cannot be done. Second, be realistic about the number of people and personalities you need for this topic and that you can handle. Too few, you may not get a rounded picture; too many can overwhelm the room and no one gets a word in if not managed properly.  And last, mind the balance of the seniority level in the room. You don’t want people to be afraid of voicing their opinions in front of others and things are left unsaid.
  5. Menu: It is well known that I would do anything for a donut. Get your people fed! At the end of the day it’s these little things that we look forward to and make us feel appreciated. It’s also hard to think straight if you’re hungry, so set people up for success.
  6. Follow up and communicate – Set yourself a monthly reminder to update the participants how the project is doing. This will keep you accountable, all while showing your gratitude to the people who took time to participate. (You don’t want someone greeting you by the water cooler with  whatever happened…?) When the project is implemented you can celebrate it. Should it get shelved, you can provide an explanation and what you’ve learned from it. People will appreciate hearing directly from you and not  through the grapevine.
  7. Do some internal reflection: After the session, give yourself feedback on how it went. What went according to plan and what went less well than expected. Were you happy with the participants? Was the timeline realistic? What would you do the same in the future and what would you change?

 Innovation sessions have so much riding on them to begin with. If you can get a group of fresh, eager, positive faces to participate, you’re halfway there already.

Creating an Innovation Community of Practice, part 2

Published date: September 15, 2023 в 12:59 pm

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Category: Innovation,Organizational Innovation

If you are here, it probably means that I’ve convinced you that you should engage with the idea of establishing your Innovation Community of Practice. Part 2 (click for part 1) of our series highlights “top innovation coaches”, their importance in having an active, impactful innovation community of practice, and the way they become key assets in the innovation community over time.

It is not about taking a course; it is about implementing new skills

(almost) Everyone loves to attend training events and courses. Assuming you have a good trainer, you should have a good time. However, an impactful program is not (only) about taking a-training, it is more about getting things done the day after. Conducting a 2/3/5/10-day training is necessary and an important beginning, but it is not enough. It doesn’t cut it. From an organizational perspective, as well as from a personal one, individuals must implement what they learned to generate growth and impact. In other words – innovation training programs, like innovation projects, must integrate an implementation phase, otherwise – it is just an exercise we once engaged in, maybe even a good learning memory.

With everything I know about training, learning, innovation (and some other things), this criteria was very clear to me when I stepped into leading my first innovation training program 7 years ago. It was obvious that I needed to provide more than “just” new knowledge. In fact, the strength of our programs – then and now – depends on engagement, especially in the post-training phase – where we get to see what participants  do (or will not do) once our team is not there 24/7 to train and mentor.

Over time, I started to notice a pattern – when you take a group of smart, talented, capable individuals, and train them to do something useful – they will all take something from the training to their professional (and personal) lives. Yet only some of them will do that in a way that brings true impact to the innovation community, to the organization (and to their career), and bring new ROI to the innovation network. Those are our top innovation coaches, the top runners.

Meet the top runners, your network’s true X-factor  

All iCoaches need to be active, promoting innovation buzz, engagement, new ideas, and small-scale initiatives. We know that they all do it in different ways, and over time – some get more active, and some – less. This is the nature of group behavior and normal statistics, and yet another important reason to consider onboarding your innovation coaches over time, using a cohort system.

Granted that top coaches are active coaches, but to be a true top runner you need something extra – which makes you a key asset to the innovation community. In other words, top runners are active in a way that highlights constant engagement, as well as a strong desire to drive business impact. They are not necessarily the ones who run the most mini-sessions or know all the tools and methodologies, yet they are the ones who bring the most added value to the innovation effort as a whole; they are the ones whom you cannot imagine your community without. It is no wonder that over time the strength of this sub-group – as individuals and as a team – will determine the strength of your innovation community.

What is this X-factor? One of those things that may be a bit difficult to explain in one sentence. It is a unique combination of skills and attributes who differentiates them from others, making sure that they will do something very useful with their learning, and by doing so – become important members in the innovation community. In some cases, top coaches are simple to spot, in others – not as much. To find these candidates, one should try looking for the ones whom you cannot imagine your network without, and the ones whom you always reach out first with every new idea, initiative or challenge, or when you need to think with someone you trust. These are your top runners.

Each innovation community is different, and so are top runners, yet they all share similar aspects and characteristics. After training hundreds of coaches, exploring their activities, what helps them to succeed, and what prohibits their efforts, let’s meet our top runners:

  1. Ben the Connector. Ben knows everyone in the organization, making him the network’s matchmaker – bringing together people, topics, and resources. He takes the time to connect, introduce, and to be introduced in all key teams and functions in the organization, knowing what they are up to, and connecting them to a relevant fellow iCoach to lead a mini-session around a specific topic identified. Ben also takes the time to make sure that topic owners and coaches are connected over time, helping them to follow up with results and ongoing innovation opportunities.
  1. Problem Solver Michael. Mike’s idea of a good day is a day in which a complicated problem was solved, preferably one that others were not able to fully grasp. Mike will always find all the time in the world to explore topics and challenges using different tools and methodologies, as well as his endless curiosity to find out different tracks and tools. People often reach out to him with a topic that others gave up on or are not sure how to address; from time to time, he will even present one of those topics to the iCoaches community, to inspire them to provide him and others with more problems to solve.
  2. Together Tammie. With some time passed since her training, Tammie became all iCoaches best wing-person for every session or activity, making her one of the network’s most active and knowledgeable coaches. Her engagement, experience, and familiarity with all iCoaches makes Tammie a key resource in many exciting initiatives, providing her with a rich pull of success stories and examples as well as an opportunity to make sure coaches meet from time to time – in small groups or as a full team.
  3. “Let’s go for it” Ellen. Ellen has no fear in leading sessions, meetings, pith, or town-hall meetings designed to showcase the network’s progress and business contribution. Ellen has top moderation skills, continually improving as she seeks additional opportunities to engage with teams, topics, and events. It is no wonder that over time Ellen became an important resource in supporting difficult sessions, as well as promoting the network’s overall wow effect.
  4. Melissa’s Management. Melissa masters innovation and organizational skills, to perfectly echo her key role in the organization and manager’s support. This unique combination makes Ellen the best person to engage with senior management and stakeholders when asking for new resources for projects and events, training opportunities for iCoaches and adjacent teams, and dealing with political problems in general. Melissa works closely with the community’s senior sponsor and is considered as one of the architects, responsible for the network’s success.

Top runners are presented here as Personas, these are not real people. Yet, I am confident that some of you will see yourselves in one of those team members, or maybe as a combination of two. Learning what makes an iCoach a top runner is useful for coaches who wish to advance, contribute, and understand how they can add value to their network; and for community leaders – when looking into improving their team’s performance as well as in the nomination phase of new coaches to be.

And what about other iCoaches? Most coaches’ networks, like most groups in general, exhibit a standard spread of motivations, skills, interests, and circumstances. It is very difficult, not to say – unlikely, to have a group in which every iCoach is a top runner. Having said that, some networks – and their senior managers, have been doing better than others in nominating, training, and mentoring their networks – improving their ratio and network strength.

Want to become more like Ellen, Michael or Melissa and master their skills and capabilities? Want to make sure you identify and nurture your top talents? Comment below or write to us directly.

While finalizing this article I was toying with the possibility of designing an innovation community in which every iCoach is a top runner. Not sure if this idea can indeed become a live innovation community of practice, but the more we highlight iCoaches’ nomination process, post-training mentoring and organizational buy-in, the closer we get. What do you think? Could you imagine this dream team in your organization?

Corporate Innovation Strategy Template

Published date: August 31, 2023 в 2:55 pm

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Category: Innovation,Organizational Innovation,Strategy

I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.

          Rudyard Kipling (1902)

 

Here is a simple template to create your company’s innovation strategy:

WHAT:

  • Determine what business lines are to be innovated.
  • Determine what products or services within those business lines need innovation.
  • Establish a portfolio model that compares innovation output from one business line to another.
  • Rank order business lines based on the strength of their innovation portfolio pipelines.

WHY:

  • Determine how much innovation is needed.  Use a tool like Map-the-Gap.
  • Tie innovation to a strategy framework such as The Big Picture.
  • Focus innovation exercises to link directly to the strategy framework.
  • Use the framework to identify market adjacencies.

WHEN:

  • Schedule innovation workshops at the front end of the business cycle to help determine what projects will get funding in the next budget cycle.
  • Schedule innovation workshops after the planning cycle to jump-start new initiatives for the upcoming year.

HOW:

  • Choose specific methods of innovation to be used based on efficacy and results.
  • Combine different methods to leverage the strengths of each.
  • Integrate the methods by using the output of one as inputs for the others.

WHERE:

  • Set aside space with the specific purpose of conducting innovation workshops.

WHO:

  • Form innovation “dream teams” to maximize the success of innovation efforts.
  • Schedule training on how to use innovation methods.
  • Examine the company’s innovation culture to diagnose where it is weak.
  • Establish an innovation competency model.
  • Designate and empower commercial leaders to drive innovation efforts.

A CHAIRPERSON’S ROLE – NOT INCLUDING INNOVATION

Published date: August 24, 2023 в 5:37 pm

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Category: Innovation

A friend, who is considering assuming the position of Chairman of the Board in a company, asked for my thoughts on the matter. I googled “roles of a chairman”, found 6-7 sites that seemed to refer to the question seriously, and created a short document of what seemed to me the key points. My modest contribution was to compile a full list, weed out redundancy, deflate bombastic or overly legalistic language, and cluster the items under four categories. Why am I sharing this?

1) as a small service to chairperson-role-aspirants

2) more in my territory – I was surprised that none of the sites that I reviewed referred in any way, even remotely, to INNOVATION. Strange for me that in this day and age, when innovation is officially and very often genuinely so high on company’s priorities, none of the sites thought it relevant to mention that one of the chairperson’s roles is to assist the CEO/MD in this respect.

My recommendation is that the CP should also (as a start):

1) assist MD/CEO to raise her/his head from time to time to consider the long and longer term, even as their daily tasks take precedence in the day-by-day, and rightly so.

2) reflect to CEO/MD when their thinking seems to be constantly limited to the same patterns.

3) demand that the company’s budgets reflect the need to develop future possibilities that are substantially different than current practices.

As promised, here is the list :

Roles of the Chairperson of the Board

1) Ensure that the Board functions properly:

  • provide leadership to the board
  • responsibility for the board’s composition and development
  • ensure accurate and timely information for the board
  • plan and conduct board meetings effectively
  • get all directors involved in the board’s work
  • engage the board in assessing and improving its performance
  • ensure that the Board addresses the matters that are of strategic and material importance to the future growth and success of the company with ample time
  • supervise the definition of the division of labor between the board and the Executive Management and compliance with such
  • make sure that potential risks to the company are duly noted and communicated to CEO and management

2) In Board meetings:

  • call the meeting to order, determine if a quorum is present
  • announce the items on the order of business or agenda
  • facilitate discussion while enforcing the rules of the group
  • put questions (motions) to a vote, or apply agreed upon mechanisms for decision making
  • ensure that all voices are heard and respected
  • adjourn the meeting

3) Versus the CEO/MD

  • offer patient and respectful support and be a sounding board for ideas
  • responsibility for the CEO’s performance
  • responsibility for hiring, retaining and firing CEOs.

4) Represent the company in meetings with government and other external entities.

Nurturing Dialog: 5 Techniques for Creating Productive and Inclusive Discussions

Published date: August 17, 2023 в 10:34 am

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Category: Innovation,Innovation Facilitation,Methodology

How do you get people to speak up? Not just to share their opinions, but to share true thoughts, pleasant or otherwise?

During a training session, my mentor, Idit Biton, raised a problem with the team and asked for solutions. This was met with awkward silence and nervous glances all around. Idit gave me a look that said – “watch this”: She divided the group into pairs and gave them seven minutes to discuss and suggest a solution. On her go, the room was abuzz.

Hello?? Clearly people had what to say. So what makes someone who has an idea, suggestion, or helpful criticism clam up?

  1. Fear of public speaking – To quote Jerry Seinfeld – “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking” (and if you’ve never seen that bit of his, you’re in for a treat).
  2. Uneasiness from people in the room (either their teammates, subordinates, or supervisors. Even walls have ears.)
  3. Worried that what they are about to say will sound dumb/haughty/baseless
  4. Just plain shy. Some people turn red when all eyes are on them and they want to avoid that if they can.

If it’s your role to get input – whether as team leader, problem owner, or facilitator – you need to help get the voices out in the open. Not all who participate in your meeting or session is a natural public speaker.

Here are 5 techniques guaranteed to get people talking and sharing:

1. Dividing into pairs/trios/groups: As I shared in my story above, the talking started to flow as soon as people were divided into pairs.

Benefits:

  • You can try out your ideas and suggestions on one person which is much less intimidating than the whole group;
  • You get immediate feedback from your partners (thumbs up, thumbs down, or areas that should be polished);
  • There’s more confidence when presenting since the suggestion was liked by all partners who now stand behind the idea;
  • Only one person actually has to present;
  • Can weed out the so-so ideas and comments by having teams present their favorite, and saves time since only need to present once if both partners share the same sentiments.

2. Writing ideas and thoughts down on a piece of paper/notepad/document.

Benefits:

  • Everyone has time to gather their thoughts independently;
  • Writing things down gives people the opportunity to see how it will sound outside their head, helping word it in a way that makes sense to others;
  •  No need to actually present as they can be collected – whether placed around the room for people to peruse or just for the eyes of the person running the meeting;
  • It can be anonymous if need be. (Yes, sometimes you really need to know who said what, but that’s your future problem. First get people to spill.)

3. Using a template/model for people to arrange and share their thoughts. For example – one of my favorite models is Edward De Bono’s PMI – Plus Minus Interesting, which is used to generate discussions around the positives, negatives, and interesting parts of an idea or strategy.

Benefits:

  • Not everyone knows where to begin. A template helps guide thoughts productively;
  • Not everyone feels comfortable sharing criticism – depending who’s in the room or to be thought of as a team player. Having everyone use the same language puts everyone on the same page and provide insights from different angles;
  • Helps steer the conversation -A friend confided in me that during meetings she feels she either says nothing or talks forever. A template keeps people on point.

4. Give info in advance – make sure everyone knows what the meeting is about and what their role is in it.

Benefits:

  • People aren’t put on the spot and have adequate time to prepare;
  • If it’s not a forum they feel comfortable with they can discuss alternatives or opt out.

5. Speak to people in private – With some folks, no matter what you do, you know they won’t say everything in a public forum. If their opinion matters to you then it’s time to go one-on-one.

Benefits:

  • They can feel comfortable to share the good, the bad, and the ugly;
  • They will feel valued that you sought them out to hear what they have to say, and respect their comfort level.

These techniques can be used individually or together. You know your people, and if not – time to learn your audience. Mix and match away so that you get the valuable input you desire.

M&A Innovation

Published date: August 9, 2023 в 11:25 am

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Category: Innovation,Strategy

Relying on Mergers and Acquisitions for growth sends a signal that you don’t know how to innovate or how to manage it. M&A has other problems, too. Companies tend to overpay which actually destroys shareholder value. At best, firms end up paying full value, neither better or worse off financially. The firm grows in size, not value, and pays in the form of distraction.

What if you could use the tools and processes of innovation in mergers and acquisitions?

How could it help?

  1. Would you select acquisition targets better?
  2. Could it help understand the valuation better so you get a better deal?
  3. Might it help you implement better?

I believe innovation techniques could be applied to all three.

Here is one example: targeting – deciding who to buy.

Imagine you are the CEO of a bank, perhaps headquartered in Europe. You and the other board members have decided its time to deliver more value to the shareholders by growing the business. You decide to acquire another bank with all the spare cash you have accumulated (rather than just give it to its rightful owners.) The question is: Which bank? Should we buy one in Europe to expand our share while eliminating a competitor?  Should we expand to the U.S. market and buy one there?  Should we buy a struggling bank, get it cheap, and restore it to profitability?

No, no, no. Too simple and obvious. Nothing innovative here at all. Let’s instead apply the Subtraction Tool from Systematic Inventive Thinking and see how we can re-frame the question. Start by listing the components of your bank.

1.    Employees

2.    Customers

3.    Assets

4.    Property plant and equipment

5.    Brand

6.    Systems

7.    Management

Now, one at a time, let’s remove a component, then ask ourselves which bank we should acquire.  Imagine you had no customers. You still have all the other components, just no customers. What bank could you acquire that had the ideal customer base for YOUR bank given what it’s all about? Would you want customers who were more diverse, higher income, more profitable, lower cost to serve, more loyal, etc.? In other words, acquire a bank that delivers the perfect complement of customers. Now remove employees. You have all the other components, just no staff. Now what bank would you buy? Which has the ideal employee base for who you are? Would you go after employees who are smarter, less costly, more diverse, younger, older, etc.?

The same process, done for each component in succession, gives you a whole new innovative perspective on who to acquire. It helps you understand why you are buying, what you are getting, and how you expect to create new value and competitiveness. It helps you understand The Bet – what the deal is really all about.

M&A is an expensive way to grow. By adding the gift of innovation to the process, shareholders stand a better chance of seeing more value.

(Originally published in 2008)

WALK, DREAM -> CREATE

Published date: July 6, 2023 в 5:12 pm

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Category: Innovation,Innovation Facilitation

My colleague Hila Pelles wrote an intriguing internal post for our SIT team, citing two thought-provoking articles.

The first is from INC.:

Research Suggests We’re All Getting Less Creative and Scientists Think They Know Why, by Jessica Stillman

The gist:

  • Scores on the Torrance Test, considered by many to be a reliable indicator of creativity, have been steadily declining since the 90’s.
  • The reason, scientists claim (the article claims), is that we are all spending too much time on digital screens instead of acting in the world or engaging in leisurely thoughts.
  • The solution: dedicate time to thinking, go on long walks, limit screen time and vary your routine.

The second article, published on LIT HUB (excerpted from: First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human) expands on one of the first article’s recommendations:

On the Link Between Great Thinking and Obsessive Walking, by Jeremy DeSilva

I am doing a dis-service to this article by summarizing it, since it is more literary in spirit, but, using examples from Charles Darwin to Virginia Woolf, it convincingly makes the case for walking as a stimulus for creative thinking, supported by several experiments that found superior results and stronger brain connectivity in subjects who walked versus couch potatoes.

My pragmatic take on these articles, in two parts:

1) Caveat reader

a. In 25 years of experience working with diverse publics in dozens of countries I haven’t noticed any signs of decline in creativity. In fact, I believe there are many signs of a widespread increase in creativity and productive thinking – not always for the good of humankind, not even correlated with individuals’ happiness or wellbeing, but that is another issue. Instead, I believe that what the findings may be showing is the decreased relevance of the Torrance test itself, whose relevance I suspect was always less than its PR.

b. Although I resent the time my daughters spend on screens lately, I don’t think the blame for declining creativity, if real, should be placed on digital activities. Bertrand Russell famously wrote in praise of idleness in his homonymous book and article (“The idea that the poor should have leisure has always been shocking to the rich.”), showing that lack of idleness is not a new affliction and that it can equally affect both sides of the digital divide.

2) Practical facilitation tips:

a. In f2f sessions, move people around every now and again, sometimes ask them to stretch, and when possible – even to dance to music. Much more difficult in remote sessions, but very much worth the effort.

b. 2-3 times an hour, give participants the chance to chat with their neighbor(s) for 3-4 minutes on a task that doesn’t require too much concentration.

My 20-second summary, so you can go ramble: move around, take it easy, and you’ll be more creative (or, if not, I suspect, at least a bit happier).

INNOVATION as EVOLUTION and as CROSSING a SWAMP

Published date: June 8, 2023 в 8:39 am

Written by:

Category: Innovation,Strategy

(Originally published on December 1st, 2021)

When talking to people about innovation and SIT, whether in casual conversation or as part of a teaching or facilitation scenario, many of us have found that the easiest way to convey what we are about, and the best way to make the (metaphorical…) penny drop, is often by using a metaphor.

 

The Evolutionary Metaphor

Ideas are like species. There are many of them out there. They struggle for attention and resources, and only the fittest survive. In “idea nature”, random variations of ideas emerge through accident and luck. Some of these variations – the 3M Post It, Penicillin – turn out to be useful and successful while others (the majority) disappear. What SIT does is to create the variations non-randomly. Thus, SIT is about systematic or directed creation of “idea mutations” or “idea variations”. Randomness is thus taken out of the idea evolution process. Some non-obvious advantages:

  1. SIT variations are created using the 5 patterns. Thus, beyond speeding up the process by proactively creating variations, SIT leads to types of variations that tend to have a higher probability of survival.
  2. Through the FFF structure, SIT not only speeds up generation of variations, but also accelerates selection, by passing each variant immediately through market and implementation filters.
  3. As the SIT method evolved (!), additional tools and practices have been incorporated to make sure that those ideas that have been non-randomly selected, get to be packaged to support their survival.

 

The Firm/Marshy Ground Metaphor

Common wisdom is that when individuals deal with everyday notions and ordinary activities, they are on firm ground, stable and safe, while innovative ideas live in “marshy terrain” and, thus, in order to achieve innovation, one must be willing to leave firm ground and wade through marshes in the hope of reaching undiscovered territory. Due to the buzz around innovation, people push themselves into the marshes but, intuitively, they fear the thought of getting muddy, sinking or not being able to return to the firm ground from which they ventured out.

SIT’s novel claim is that this underlying assumption – that innovation lives in the marshland – is misleading and altogether false. Rather, the innovative idea resides on ground as firm and stable as that on which current thoughts and modes of being exist, and it is merely the path to this innovative idea that requires wading through the marsh.

SIT concedes that, indeed, to achieve innovation one must be willing to wade through these marshes. This wading process may be quite unpleasant and cannot, by any stretch, be considered as primarily entertaining (“we’ll have great fun”). There are, however, two consolations: first, a structured methodology goes a long way in guiding you safely through the marshy ground, and second, once the innovative idea is reached, one finds oneself, again, on firm and stable ground.

Innovation Stigma

Published date: May 11, 2023 в 5:37 pm

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Category: Innovation,Organizational Innovation

There is an inherent bias against innovation despite the enormous value it holds for organizations.  Corporate executives know that innovation is the only true long term growth engine for their firm.  Yet innovation carries with it a certain stigma, a perception in the minds of executives, that it is “soft” and frivolous compared to other hard core business activities like productivity, quality, and demand generation.  This stigma deters executives from taking risk and investing in serious innovation initiatives.

The innovation industry itself is partly to blame.  Participants in the innovation space tend to perpetuate a mystique about innovation and creativity as though it is a deeply hidden secret that needs to be unleashed.  Walk into many innovation sessions and what you see are cans of Silly StringTM, Slinky(R) toys, Frisbees, and funny nose glasses.  The notion here is that people need to be more playful to have that “eureka” moment and invent the next blockbuster idea.  People are conditioned to believe innovation requires “skunk-works” in a specially-designed room to pursue “white space opportunities.”   Innovation is voodoo.

In an effort to differentiate themselves, participants in the innovation space create novel names for their programs and services.  Here is a very small sample: Innovations-Radar(R), Innovation Cube(R), Challenge AcceleratorTM, 360-IA(R), SpinnovatorTM, Idea BucketTM, AlphaStormingTM, Excursion DeckTM, Mindscan(R), IdeaSpring(R), Super Digilab(R), etc, etc.  The list is overwhelming and it tends to confuse the market.  More importantly, what is the efficacy of these tools?  Do they work?  The granddaddy of them all, Brainstorming, is certainly suspect given the many studies that suggest otherwise.

Is there an innovation bias?  I am polling Fortune 100 executives to describe the characteristics of people who champion certain business causes.  I ask them to describe the typical age, experience, credentials, aspirations, and personality of:

  • Productivity Champions
  • Process Excellence Champions
  • Innovation Champions
  • Leadership Champions
  • Brand Champions

The early feedback suggests innovation champions, compared to the others, are seen as more eager, altruistic “dreamers” who are out of touch with the business.  One executive described innovation champions as necessary but had low expectations of actual results.  Of more concern is the perception executives have about themselves in this role.  My sense is business people shy away from championing innovation because they believe the stigma of failing at innovation is more career-damaging than failing at other ventures.

The innovation industry needs to play a role in improving the image of innovation.  Fortunately, there are resources like Innovation Tools and CREAX that consolidate the innovation space and help companies make sense of the different offerings.  More prominence needs to be given to the classic researchers in innovation and creativity like Ronald Finke, Thomas Ward, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and Jacob Goldenberg.  We need to get back to the basics of what makes innovation work so we can skip the hype.

The innovation bias has to be overcome if companies want to make progress and grow.  Leaders need to address this head on.  How?  Just as they learned to champion leadership by first becoming an authentic leader, they need to champion innovation by first becoming an authentic innovator.

What do SOS and Innovation have in common?

Published date: May 2, 2023 в 10:50 am

Written by:

Category: Innovation,Methodology

For those of you familiar with SIT’s methodology, last week’s “survival” exercises are perfect examples of one of SIT’s principles: FFF, or Function Follows Form.

We took a deep look at the actions of Academy Award winner, Tom Hanks, playing the character of Chuck Noland in the film “Cast Away”. His limited available resources inspired his creativity, allowing him to survive on a desert island and finally to find his way back home. He did so by first looking at the form of the objects around him and then coming up with new ideas to best utilize them.

But survival on a desert island is not the only example of our principles – though it does make for an incredible story.

In SIT’s terminology, FFF is a leading principle and a structured framework for innovation, precisely because it forces one to examine possibilities that they would not seriously consider within a standard rational process. By applying the non-standard way of thinking, one improves the chances of coming up with innovative ideas that competitors may have missed.

Backwards is the right way for SOS

Trying to think of new applications for physical objects is not the only application of FFF. The principle also helps explain some well-known expressions.

First, let’s go back to our island.

 Last week’s article may have prompted you to watch the movie. If so, you probably remember that, when trying to contact a distant ship, Noland signals both by shouting and with the help of a flashlight three famous letters – a distress signal: SOS.

The famous distress signal, SOS, is itself an excellent example of the Function Follows Form principle.

Contrary to popular belief, the origin of the SOS code is not the acronym for “Save Our Souls” or “Save Our Ship”. The sequence of letters was originally created without any literal meaning; It simply represented the easiest to remember sequence of Morse letters: three dots / three dashes / three dots (…—…).

Germany was the first country to adopt this sequence in 1905. In fact, it was preceded by attempts to use other codes such as SSS DDD, and even CQD. Lucky for us, CQD didn’t catch.

Only a few years later in popular usage, SOS became associated with the words that help us remember the acronym. Can you think of another phrase to attach to the letters SOS?

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S.O.S created with FFF mindset

Source

This action, expanding an existing word into the words of a phrase, is called a BACKRONYM.

Have you ever heard of this term? The act itself is a bit more common than you might think. Care for additional examples? Here are some:

If we’re already into movies, the global crime organization “SPECTRE” from the James Bond film series has become the acronym for Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion.

The PATRIOT Act is a landmark Act of the United States congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. It was enacted following the September 11 attacks, with an intended goal of tightening US national security, particularly as it related to foreign terrorism. No wonder, then, that the Act lent itself to the backronym Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.

Even the APGAR score, which is used by doctors to quickly evaluate the health of all newborns, is a backronym. It was named after Virginia Apgar, the anesthesiologist who invented it in 1952. Until today the APGAR score represents the mandatory set of categories needed to assess infant status shortly after birth all around the world. Only after it was adopted, the acronyms were invented to help medical teams remember all the tests included in it: Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, Respiration.

In fact, APGAR’s surname is such a strong “brand” that acronyms have been created in many other languages to represent tests included in the index, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, and Czech.

It’s time to go back to the basics: Looking for an object (Form) to fulfill a defined Function is fine. But discovering latent needs and benefits, that originate out of an existing Form tends very often to lead to innovation. So, don’t wait for your next flight over the Pacific Ocean. Give the Function Follows Form principle a try right now. You may make waves.

Can you think of some FFF applications from your immediate business and needs? Share with us.

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