Free Your Innovation Culture
As
business leaders, we devote plenty of oxygen to the relationship between
positive cultural change and innovation. Everybody wants happy, fulfilled
employees who execute intelligently and create value. But when a culture is
being reshaped, the journey is just as critical as the destination. Through my
work with companies around the world, I can attest to the uncertainty caused by
the change process—even in the most ideal
circumstances. When leaders aren’t prepared for this interim phase, they may
unwittingly find themselves hindering progress rather than supporting it.
During
a season of transition, leadership must fight the urge to micromanage.
Employees need to know someone is steering the ship, but they also need freedom
to interpret and apply directives to their own work. This approach is illustrated
by the difference between guardrails—clear parameters designed for everyone’s
safety—and handcuffs, which prevent independent action. To avoid rigidly
mandating people while guiding them toward an innovative culture, successful
executives can use a variety of guardrail-inspired tactics. Here are seven best
practices that have proven effective for transforming employees into smart
risk-takers.
1. Define
smart vs. stupid risks. Every leader’s level of risk tolerance varies, but
some amount of risk is essential to innovation. Understand the level you’re
comfortable with by asking yourself a question: What characterizes a smart risk
versus a stupid risk? Consider criteria like the time investment, financial
impact, resources required, prototyping, and feedback loops. Identify at least
three bullet points that illustrate each type of risk and share them with your
teams. By doing so, you’ll communicate the information necessary for them to
evaluate ideas independently.
2. Set
an acceptable failure rate. True innovation requires trial and error, so
how much experimentation will you allow? What percentage of experiments must
succeed? By acknowledging the percentage of experiments that are allowed to
fail, you’ll give people permission to think outside the box.
Starbucks
CEO Howard Schultz, for example, clearly appreciates the value of failure. He deliberately kept copies of the
now-defunct JOE magazine around his office, even though it was poorly
received (and it was his idea)—as a reminder to everyone who enters that
failure isn’t going to prevent experimentation at the company.
3. Encourage
experimentation. Following on that second point, give the go-ahead for
“managed experimentation.” Set specific time and resource boundaries—whatever’s
appropriate for a new, innovative project—and have the small team that’s in
charge share the results of the experimentation phase with a larger team upon
completion.
Making
it safe to try new things is critical for innovation to happen. As Jamil Ghani,
the vice president of enterprise strategy for Target, told me in a recent interview, “Innovation breeds
excitement, as there’s great energy that comes from pushing boundaries, trying
new things, and being at the cutting edge. Fear of failure and what it means
for one’s standing on the team or in the organization is too often an inhibitor
of innovation. Managers need to make it okay to try new things and protect team
members when it does not work out.”
4.
Use pilot testing. Testing new ideas before their wide application is a key
strategy for successful innovation. Starwood Hotels has used its W brand as an innovation lab for its entire portfolio.
From the contents of minibars to signature scents, many of this hotelier’s
innovations are credited with changing the landscape of the entire hospitality
industry.
Decide
upfront which indicators—for instance, budget, resources, or feasibility
results—will determine whether to shelve the test concept, or to roll it into a
longer or more permanent effort. When the lines of success and failure are
clearly drawn, teams understand how to recognize a smart risk.
5. Empower
through trust. Ask teams to make three decisions without you this month. Do
you really need to approve the invite list for the planning meeting? Or every
revision to the sales deck? Trust encourages confidence and critical thinking
among team members—and leaders can utilize their newly freed-up time for more
strategic tasks.
When
a senior leader at Standard & Poor’s tried this technique, his team quickly
began to take ownership of their workload, and more. They had gotten in the
habit of asking permission for everything, which sapped the leader’s time and consequently
inhibited the team. This was largely a self-inflicted wound, one that we healed
almost overnight with the leader’s simple request to not involve him as much in
everyday tasks.
6. Choreograph
collaboration, then step away. Establish a network of innovation mentors.
First, pair individuals from different parts of the organization to serve as
one another’s go-to-person for idea generation, advice, and resources. These
should be managers who understand both your vision and the company’s overall
goals. Then ask these individuals to track innovation activities across
departments, and connect and support other people with capabilities that align
with project needs.
Establish
a timeline for specific deliverables to keep group members accountable, but then
step away and let the magic happen. As trust builds among team members, and
throughout the company, successful collaboration will follow.
7. Celebrate
smart risk-taking. The Tata Group, a global conglomerate, hosts an annual “Dare to Try” awards, which celebrates the idea that failures often lead to
groundbreaking innovations. This type of public acknowledgement that every big
bet won’t pay off fuels a spirit of smart risk-taking among its employees.
Within your own organization, you
can use the company’s intranet, e-letters, and Twitter account to showcase
individuals who take smart risks. By identifying them, you publicly reward the
person/team and provide a company-wide reference point for acceptable
risk-taking. Reward your risk-takers with days off, gift certificates, or a
sincere phone call from senior management to say “thank you.”
When coping with change, leaders
must establish guardrails through tools and behaviors, and remove the handcuffs
of micromanagement and fear of failure. Acknowledging the importance of
failure—and celebrating smart risk-takers— encourages employee experimentation
and an innovative mindset. As trust builds within your organization, critical
thinking and collaboration will move innovation goals forward. By modeling,
encouraging, and investing in these best practices, you will shape a positive
culture, which is the foundation for successful innovation.
http://www.strategy-business.com/blog/Free-Your-Innovation-Culture?gko=fe7cb
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