The larger and more set in its ways an organization gets, the more difficult it is to bring about innovation and productive change. Things get even more difficult when innovation is not built into organizational DNA, where the culture itself promotes the production, free exchange, and implementation of new ideas.
It gets to the point where you get tired of hearing things like, “We need more innovation” or “We’ve got to be more innovative” or “Bring me your innovations!”
As if talking about it–or worse–mandating it will bring it about.
I recall one off-site I was at with the senior leaders of our organization, and the subject was–you guessed it–innovation. During one of the discussions, my boss, somewhat exasperated, asked, “What’s it going to take for us to be innovative?” As an inherently technological organization like we were, innovation was actually pretty critical.
No one piped up.
So I volunteered and said, “I don’t know what’s so hard about it. You lay out a compelling vision for your folks, ask them for their help, give them the space and support to try new things–even break some things–make sure you reward them in formal and informal ways, and pretty soon you’ve got all the innovation you could ever ask for.” I knew what I was talking about because that’s exactly what we had done within our team.
No one else chimed in.
We ended up taking a lot of action items, but not much else of real innovative consequence ever got done. I wondered why in retrospect because my colleagues were all smart, hard-working, and committed people. I boiled it down to five things:
– Overwhelmed by the daily grind. Too much work to do already, and what’s the last thing you want when you’ve got too much work? More work…especially when the boss is going to be paying attention to you. Yes, we all were overworked, but that had conspired to drive the unit to a least common denominator level where pure survival on a day-to-day basis was the only thing that mattered. The problem with this outlook is that there is never any hope for things to get better. That’s where innovation can make the difference between continued life–or death–as an viable organization.
– Skin in the Game. Innovation means taking risk. And taking risk means bringing on the possibility of failure. It’s unfortunate when keeping a safe, clean record of innocuous success means more than doing what’s right for the future of the mission.
– Lack of Incentive/Commitment to Follow-Through. The space, rewards, and support for innovation were not put in place, so the incentive to actually put skin in the game was not there. On the other hand, sometimes change must be driven from the top down.. This way of doing business is not ideal, but it any event it is sometimes required to move the innovation agenda forward.
– Missing Innovative Mind-Set. From a psychological perspective, some people are wired to accept change more readily than others. Goal-oriented innovators number around 40% of the population while the remaining 60% either take more convincing or don’t like change at all. Knowing who your innovators are and setting them up for success in supporting the innovation agenda is key.
– Organizational Mismatch. Our organization was structured as a hierarchical bureaucracy. What’s the purpose of a bureaucracy? Stability, consistency, and repetitive output. Exactly the opposite of what’s required for innovation.
One of the most powerful lessons I ever learned on innovation was as a young Air Force officer on my first deployment in support of NATO air operations over Bosnia-Herzegovina. Prior to the deployment I had worked in communications engineering jobs that were highly regulated by process and hierarchy. Stability and predictability were highly prized, but new and innovative was not.
Upon arrival at the theater air operations center as the chief of communications engineering, I quickly discovered that my chain of command to the 3-star general in charge was incredibly short—only one layer between me and the three star. The second thing I came to realize was that there was no manual or regulations that prescribed what I was to do. The basic guidance was something like, “Make sure everything we have keeps working, but do everything you can to improve it.”
For me, it was like experiencing freedom for the first time.
Even more energizing was that the team of Airmen deployed as communications technicians were renowned for their ability to solve problems and come up with creative ways to meet emerging operational requirements.
In time, I was able to gain the trust of these Airmen and together we not only kept everything working, but implemented a variety of “first-ever” communications networks, relays, and connections that enhanced the ability of the 3-star NATO commander and his field commanders to conduct air operations over Bosnia-Herzegovina.
This included NATO’s first-ever offensive strike that downed five Serbian jets that had violated the no-fly zone to bomb a Bosnian munitions factory.
The willingness to accept risk and “make things” better was apparent in every subsequent deployment. It was practically expected as an Airman that you would use your smarts to overcome challenges and make the operation go better.
A leader who appreciates innovation, actively solicits it from the front lines, organizes to facilitate it, and rewards the accomplishment of it will find that the organization benefits tremendously from the unleashing of creative energy, ideas, and innovation that results.
By Joe Scherrer | The Leadership Crucible