kevin donaldson

Decent manifesto on stimulating innovation inside the organization.  A few specific nuggets I took away:

•  Watch out for a culture of ‘yeah but…’ instead of the more desirable ‘what if…?’

•  There is no question that limited resources can stifle innovation, but all too often this becomes an easy and convenient excuse for not doing the critical and creative thinking required to push to the next level—the place where elegance is found.  Do people in your organization see limitations as invitations to ingenuity and opportunities to differentiate or excuses for why it can’t be done?

•  People don’t lay down their lives for a job. They don’t give the totality of who they are to line shareholder’s pockets. But, they will give everything they’ve got to play a role in changing the world.

• The fact is, you can’t innovate without experimenting and you can’t experiment without making some mistakes….By giving people permission to fail, gutsy leaders give them permission to try new things.   When was the last time you rewarded someone for an intelligent failure?

I particularly like the idea of an "Intelligent Failure" award where colleagues nominate and award each other for stepping out and trying a smart experiment that failed and what was learned from it.  

On this blog I talk about topics related to what I feel are the 3 imperatives to managing a modern business

• Organizational agility
• Creativity through intrinsic motivation
• Customer development

What does it mean to be a modern business?  It's a new world out there and It means you deal with the following:

• The term Global can pretty much apply to any company now
• Disruption is happening all around you
• Wicked Problems are common
• Chaotic environments are normal
• The nature of employment is changing
• Intersectional Innovation blurs industry lines traditional business models

Your organization needs to match the relative stability of the environment you operate in.  Change is nothing new.  The Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus (535 - 475 BC) said The only Constant is Change.  However what is happening to rock people's worlds is the pace of change. 

This weekend I came across this manifesto in the most recent issue of ChangeThis written by Allan Lewis, Chairman of Grand Circle Corporation, the largest U.S. direct market tour operator of international vacations for older Americans.  This manifesto summarizes Allan's learning's from being in an unstable environment.  It is titled Change is the New Constant.   It speaks to 5 key lessons learned by the organization, which map back very well to 2 of the 3 imperatives I list above (organizational agility, creativity through intrinsic motivation):

1. Flexibility trumps Efficiency

• efficiency-focused models are focused on managing predictable environments.  Over time, the relentless pursuit of efficiency will cut out the capabilities needed to respond to the unpredictable.  (see related post: Is Agile/Scrum the Process Mgmt Framework for the Creative Economy)

2. Mission and Vision creates Inspiration

• For a company to be adaptable and flexible, its associates must understand and be committed to its mission and vision. To achieve that commitment requires a compelling mission and vision; people will not commit emotionally to a mission that is only about achieving greater profit or growing sales.

3. Values, not Structures, drive effective organizations

• In uncertain environments, decisions are guided by values, not structures. If those values are not in place the wrong decisions will be made.

4. Investments in People and Learning create Advantage

• Structures and systems cannot adapt rapidly enough to unpredictable events. People can. Effective investment in people can create huge leverage and competitive advantages. In changing times investments in developing people are the most valuable.

5. Relentless measurement of Excellence is essential

• If you have a vision and mission you believe in, you must evaluate your people against them all the time, no matter how much you admire their energy or reputation, and no matter how much money they are bringing in. If you don’t, you will live to regret it.

It's worth the 20 minute read!

Some articles get scanned and passed while others resonate within you heavily for some time.  Yesterday I read a post: Ideas Into Execution: Giving Away an Idea to Make it Happen.  This was one of those such article.  A powerful story that has been playing out for close to a year now and shows the power of community and giving. Embedded into this article is a short but powerful TED 2010 talk on leadership lessons that is a must watch:

All of this meshes well with Seth Godins concept of Santa Math published this week:

Santa flies around the world, giving stuff away, and for what? He earns gratitude, trust and friendship, that's what. Sure, one day he might decide to license his image or try to sell you something. But right here, right now, gratitude, trust and friendship are plenty. Especially if you enjoy doing what you're doing.

True leadership is less about leading/directing and more about giving and supporting.