Innovative impact
LEADERSHIP FACT
Did you know?
Employees who receive strong recognition are 33 per cent more likely to be proactively innovating and generate twice as many ideas per month compared to those who are not recognised well.32
Self-assessment
Before reading this chapter, do the following quick self-assessment.
How would you rate your ability to create innovative impact in these areas?
The case for innovation
Innovate or die!
You have probably heard this said by people like Jack V. Matson and Peter Drucker and many others over the years.
And they are right. The future holds challenges that we know nothing about. The increasing speed of change in the world of business, and in society as a whole, makes us realise that we need to become more and more innovative to find the solutions that are needed for the future.
Yes, innovation is key and you can help make it happen. You can have innovative impact.
Leaders set the tone in an organisation for what is expected, what is acceptable and what is the norm. Leaders can do a lot to create an environment where the kind of innovation the future demands can flourish.
Many organisations have ‘innovation’ as a buzzword in their values or vision and mission statement, but what is the differentiating factor between the ones that really innovate and those that do not? The behaviours that support the intentions and actions matter greatly here.
This chapter gives an opportunity to think about and plan for how you can make innovation into a habit for yourself, your team, your organisation. How can you make it desirable and fun to continuously not just challenge the status quo but also to create something completely new and different? How can you release that innovative potential in others for the organisation to be able to stay relevant or even stay ahead of the trends?
Disrupt or be disrupted!
This is increasingly becoming the norm, and you can be that positive disruptor who unleashes that kind of thinking and being. You can help shape a curious, boundary-pushing, innovative culture. And impact, as discussed earlier, is largely down to the way you role model behaviours that engage people, in this case to innovate.
Be a ‘disruptive leader’!
People often perceive disruption as something negative, and it certainly can be. Someone’s behaviours can be disruptive and unhelpful in a meeting, for example. But that is not what we are talking about here. No, we have experienced when being disruptive can be very positive.
To disrupt is to do something that radically changes the status quo and, at the speed of change that we are experiencing in society today, organisations will either disrupt or be disrupted by old or new players on the market. This is the kind of leadership the future needs: leaders who can navigate, lead and collaborate through the choppy waters of constant change.
A 2018 study33 by McKinsey describes the big paradigm shift that is going on in organisations now, where the old paradigm of organisations as machines is being challenged by trends such as continuously changing environment and disruptive technology.
The new paradigm, the new reality, is one of the organisation as a living organism, that needs to adapt and change and respond to the fast-paced change – a nimble, agile entity. This is a big challenge, for many large organisations in particular, to adapt to this new reality and become nimble and responsive in the way that is needed.
It is challenging, yes, but doable. This is where the concept of leaders as disruptors comes in.
Working with organisations around the world, supporting them in navigating a constantly changing world and reflecting on the latest research on future leadership, we have identified five steps that leaders can take to be positive disruptors in the digital age.
The five agile steps for disruptive leaders
1. Build your strategic ability
Are you strategic? Are you strategic enough?
Many leaders we meet, unless quite senior, are focused on the tactical, day-to-day realities of work. That is OK, but there needs to be a balance, for everyone, regardless of our role – everyone needs to weave in strategy in what they do. And, in order to be a positive disruptor, it is absolutely crucial to focus on and develop strategic ability. That strategic ability can be broken down into a number of skills, which can be developed.
We have found these five strategic thinking skills to be crucial in building strategic ability:
Systems thinking
Be curious about the world around you to understand the system you are in – observe, listen and explore it. When it comes to systems thinking, usually, there are two main systems to consider – the internal system of the organisation and the external system, which is everything outside the organisation that touches it in some way: market, competitors, social, political and financial environment, etc. The more you know about your systems, the more likely you are to spot or create relevant opportunities for innovation, as well as understand the impact the organisation has and can have.
Purpose and vision focus
Begin with the end in mind. Be relentlessly purpose-driven, and become super-focused on the organisational vision and reason for being. This kind of passion can have a big impact on others, igniting their passion for the vision and purpose too. Show that everything is done for a reason – keep explaining and linking actions: why they are being done and what they will lead to. Doing something for a reason is engaging; it is an opportunity for everyone to know that they truly make a difference.
Long-term thinking
Plan for the future, set long-term goals (alongside your short-term goals). Focus on the relationships that are crucial for long-term success. This could be clients, suppliers, potential clients and colleagues – just to mention a few. By being respectful and collaborative now you can create a respectful and collaborative relationship over time, which is not just the right thing to do, but it will also make it easier to get them to want to work with you in the future.
Taking responsibility for the whole
Remind yourself of the big picture, take a step back to see beyond your own responsibility today. Recognise that success requires shared responsibility. Look for linkages and interactions between tasks and people, e.g. who is dependent on whom, where are the handoffs, etc. Think through the effects of decisions and actions, projecting that into the future. Keep in mind, though, that this is hard to do alone, so find others you can work with to figure this out. Assess the impact of strategies, plans, actions and behaviours, to avoid acting in a here-and-now way.
Asking strategic questions
Provide strategic focus to dialogues. Influence others to take a strategic view and build their strategic ability by asking strategic questions, such as: Where do we want to be? For what purpose are we doing what we are doing? How will this differentiate us from others (competitors)? Where are we now? How will we get there? What will be the impact of those actions, now and later?
2. Leave your ego at the door
We all have egos and, at times, they positively spur us on, they keep us focused and going. But egos can also be detrimental to success. Egos can make us blind to new thoughts and ideas for innovation, if we are fearful of ‘losing face’ or appearing as if we do not have all the answers. Egos can make us hold on to ‘old truths’, hence being reluctant to listen to and open up to other people or try new things.
This is what we mean, in more detail, by leaving your ego at the door, and how it can be achieved:
Share leadership
Gone are the days when leaders ruled from their office on the top floor. The leadership of the future is much more inclusive and shared. Effective, disruptive leaders recognise that they need others to share leadership with them, for different people to step forward at different times to advise, to guide and/or to lead, based on knowledge, skills, experience and other unique and valuable contributions.
Be authentic and transparent
No one is perfect and that is exactly how it should be. Dare to be an authentic leader who is transparent about your learning journey and recognise that true progress requires non-perfect results, which creates innovation and better results. Leaders who dare put their guard down and share that they, at times, struggle (and learn) like everyone else will be able to connect more effectively with others. Authentic stories create emotional connections, rather than just intellectual. Find your unique stories that can create insight, hope and inspiration for others. Dare to take off ‘your corporate cloak’ and let people get to know the authentic person, not just a polished façade.
Be bold in your collaborations
The challenges and opportunities of the future are best dealt with through collaboration, where different players come together to give their unique, relevant input. Dialogue sparks more dialogue, ideas feed ideas and creative cross-pollination of ideas and insight can drive innovative solutions. To be a positive disruptor is to realise that new, innovative, collaborative connections can always be created. Challenge your thinking and consider new collaborative partners for given challenges and opportunities. Why not collaborate with your most vocal and critical stakeholders, local government or even competitors? Think about it, who could you collaborate with to find those new answers to new challenges?
Dare to seize opportunities
Once you understand the ‘system’ you are in, it is easier to spot the opportunities around you that are relevant and can be acted upon. We are surrounded by opportunities and seizing such an opportunity, without being guaranteed a specific outcome, can sometimes be daunting. And yet, if we do not, we certainly will not reap any rewards. Think about how you can be a measured, sensible risk-taker, who does not let the fear of a slightly bruised ego stop you from making the most of relevant and viable opportunities. It is never a question of going for everything – it is about having the confidence to give it a go.
Dare to speak up
Maybe you have got a great answer or maybe you have a great opportunity for learning. Organisations, and society overall, need straight-talking people who speak their mind, who are not just keeping quiet when they have ideas, suggestions and different opinions. Speaking up takes drive, interest and passion – and innovation thrives on it. Find those in yourself and become a respectful, collaborative voice of progress for the future.
Try, learn and adjust
Build the courage to try things out, instead of just holding on to tried and tested approaches. Dare to try. By trying and testing something new, then evaluating it, learning can happen, which in turn triggers adjustment and forward movement. Think about it, how could you create an environment where this type of fast learning takes place? Who do you need to collaborate with to make it happen? Maybe you are facing a challenge right now where you could bring together all the five aspects listed above?
3. Take teaming and collaboration to a new level
To come together as a team and to collaborate is something we humans have done – in fact, our survival has depended on it – from the beginning of time.
In a globalised world of fast-paced change, we need each other now more than ever. At work, that means teaming and collaboration increasingly needs to be seen and used as a major driver of innovation, continuous business transformation and sustainable, long-term results.
As a positive disruptor, you must focus on this important driver. We talked extensively about collaborative impact in Chapter 8, but here are a few additional ways of doing just that:
- Promote a new way of thinking about teams. Prepare people for role mobility. Agility involves being able to come together as a team quickly as and when needed – and being able to take action.
- Empower your team(s) to be able to make decisions and take action.
- Embrace and demand diversity and learning in your team(s) – enable diverse input and new thinking (instead of risking an echo chamber).
4. Give enough stability so people can act with agility
In a constantly changing world, people often hesitate and become unsure about how to proceed, what to do and what is expected. This is perfectly normal, but it can impact progress and, hence, the more you can provide enough stability and certainty so that people feel confident to move into action and do what needs doing, the better.
Here are three key things to think about to make that a reality:
Make change a natural and desired part of life
Move from change management to change leadership – be more proactive about making the relevant change happen rather than just responding to changes that happen.
Talk to your team about how important constant change is – in order to survive and thrive in a world that keeps changing at great speed, whether we want it to or not. Make it super clear that constant change is the new status quo and we may as well fully embrace it and make it work for us.
Include your team in dialogue about the possible benefits of change, and find the answers and the tangible steps to success together.
Reward and recognise people for how they embrace change and dare to try, learn and progress.
Create structure and processes that enable empowered teams and agility
If your team is going to be able to manoeuvre a constantly changing playing field, they will be greatly helped by clarity of how to do that. Now, that is not to say that they will have all the specific answers. They do, however, need clear work processes that show how to explore reality, analyse data and make decisions and then act, without having to wait for much guidance or approval.
It needs to be clear and easy to do one’s job, even as things are changing. Those leaders and organisations that are able to do that will increase their chances for success. Remember to weave evaluation and learning into your processes too – so that you can quickly learn from the results achieved and adapt, innovate and navigate successfully for the next steps.
Use the technology – make it easy and straightforward to communicate and collaborate
Review the digital solutions available to you and your team. Do you have what you need? And do you use it in the best way possible?
There are so many digital tools out there: email, collaboration platforms, intranets and many more. Sometimes, a big range of options is inefficient, if people use different tools and end up wasting time trying to find a message from someone. Do not get lost in the plethora of tools available. Make a strategic decision about how to use your digital tools – what tool for what purpose? Where do you share documents? Where do you discuss subjects? Where do you share best practices, etc? Carefully choose and agree which one to use for what. This saves a lot of time and frustration and can quickly enhance collaboration too.
The more you can provide the kind of clarity, structure and stability that makes it easy for people to spot opportunities, be able to move quickly and nimbly, the better set up for the future you and your team/organisation will be.
5. Think H2H – human to human
In an increasingly digital world, our need for human interaction is probably more important than ever. That is where it happens, the connection, the passion, the innovation and disruption – together, between people, tapping into the most human aspect of us, our emotions. Having a ‘human to human’ focus is all about behaviours and the impact those have on others. So, remember to stay close to people. Care about the people around you, not just as co-worker, but as a human being. See them, hear them, value them, make them feel important. Help them see how they make a difference.
Find inspiration in yourself to inspire others and engage others through your own authentic engagement. Simply put – focus on the human aspect, being a human being, not just a ‘human doing’.
Let us reflect on and create a Roadmap for how to achieve innovative impact. These steps include tools and tips to achieve your outcome.
Roadmap step 1: decide on the outcome
So, what is it that you want to achieve? For what purpose do you want to innovate better, more effectively? Is there a specific innovative challenge that you are facing? The clearer you can be on this, the more pull it will have on you and the people involved, helping you make choices to move you towards it.
So, what could an outcome look like? Let us use an example. We will continue using this example throughout the chapter.
A number of new innovative insurance providers are appearing on the marketplace. Known for her creative thinking, Sophia has been asked to join a new global strategic innovation hub. The task of this hub is to do some blue sky thinking about how they can provide the kind of interaction, products and services that customers may not even know they were looking for yet! They need to ‘innovate or die’. Sophia shares responsibility for engaging employees across the world to get involved in the needed innovation dialogue and, together, the innovation hub needs to get this going in six months. They need the creative power of as many people as possible to feed their thoughts and observations (from their unique work- and customer-related perspective). The company, ultimately, wants to create a more innovative culture.
To make sense, any outcome should contribute to the overall vision and purpose of the organisation. There needs to be a red thread from the outcome you identify to each person’s part in it. There has to be a compelling reason to innovate, rather than just ‘it’s the right thing to do’.
The outcome in this case can be described as kick-starting a new way of working internally with innovation, engaging people in an ongoing innovation dialogue. Longer term, they are also looking for innovative solutions to be created, but the first milestone is to lay the groundwork for the creation of an innovative culture.
Fill in your innovative outcome below – why you want to release people’s innovative potential in order to drive innovation.
My innovative outcome is:
Roadmap step 2: set a target date
By when do you want to achieve this? And, if there is not an obvious target date, do you need to create one? Deadlines focus the mind and start an internal clock ticking. Without a clear endpoint, things can drift and procrastination can kick in. What gets measured gets done.
In this chapter’s story, the innovation hub’s remit is to have embedded a new way of engaging employees in innovative dialogue within six months.
What is your target date? Fill it in here.
The target date is:
Roadmap step 3: understand the stakeholders
Who does this involve and impact? Who are your stakeholders? What do you know and understand about them? What more do you need to know about them?
Sophia reflects on the key people involved and recognises that their stakeholders are employees overall, but also the executive leadership team and all other layers of leadership. Employees have so far not been expected to have much innovative input, and it has only really happened on an ad-hoc basis, in a random way. For this reason, their readiness level for getting involved may be low. And, yet, employees’ buy-in to the idea of shared responsibility around innovation is crucial. Senior leaders are the sponsors of this initiative and express support of it. Operative leaders, apart from being expected to get engaged in the dialogue themselves at times, need to support employees in doing so – making it easy for them to be involved.
Innovation involves everyone and the desire from the organisation’s point of view is to create a new culture of innovation, so Sophia recognises that her stakeholders include all employees, including its leaders on all levels. She needs to think carefully about how to approach the three main groups she has identified: employees, leaders and senior leaders (sponsors).
As Sophia’s stakeholders are both employees and leaders, she decides that she needs to find out how innovation (when it has happened) has worked so far and what has made people want to get involved. What is it that has made people want to get involved?
Sophia needs to ensure they really have the support of the senior leaders, as expressing support is not necessarily a guarantee for support in reality.
Operative leaders, she realises, may have concerns about how time-consuming this initiative will be and therefore Sophia needs to talk to them, sound them out and understand their concerns so they can be addressed.
You must stop and reflect on the bigger picture, be strategic and consider each stakeholder individually as well as how they impact each other.
Please complete your own stakeholder analysis below.
My stakeholders are:
This is what I know about them and their needs:
For more in-depth information on stakeholder planning, please go to Chapter 4.
Roadmap step 4: assess the current reality
Be realistic about where you currently are with regard to releasing people’s innovative potential for this specific outcome. Notice the difference between where you are right now and where you want to be (your outcome). How big is the gap? You really need to get a sense of how big or small the gap is so that you can make a realistic assessment of what it will take to close the gap. Do not be judgemental about it, accept the current reality as it is – it is not good, bad, right or wrong.
Whenever there is a gap between how things are now and how you want them to be, there is a natural tension that is created in that space. That tension can be described as an elastic band pulled taut between the current and future situation. Unless the desired outcome is strong enough to pull you out of the current reality, you will default back into current reality. So, make sure the outcome you are after is very clear and shared with those whom it concerns.
Innovation is not something that has been on everyone’s agenda before, so Sophia assesses that they are far from the desired outcome. It is not that people do not want to innovate but they have not been specifically asked to do it before and there may, therefore, be a lack of confidence for doing so. There is also not a process in place yet for how the innovative dialogue will work. There may also be structural issues that make this difficult – lack of effective dialogue tools, for example. The gap between current reality and vision/outcome is big. Innovation is not a part of the current culture, for sure.
Sophia is not surprised about the big gap, but she realises that they are facing quite a challenge to close that first gap in as little as six months. It will take real dedication and careful planning and coordination to achieve the stated outcome. She will need to stay calm and focused.
Sophia describes the current reality as: there is no innovative process, or dialogue tools, in place, employees have low individual experience/readiness level and potentially low confidence for it. We do not have a culture of innovating.
What does your current reality look like (in contrast to your outcome)? Write it down here.
Our current reality looks like this:
What are you going to do with that distance, that natural tension that is created between the current reality and the desired outcome? Hold on to any ideas you are having – we will get to action planning in step 6.
Roadmap step 5: what do you and others need to learn?
What do you need to learn (about) to be able to do this?
What do your stakeholders need to learn?
Impact, as well as innovation, are skills that can be learnt. If wanting to have greater innovative impact, consider what you could learn about the innovative process that would develop your own skills as well as being able to convey the need for innovation to others.
Sophia and her colleagues have reflected on the reality that innovation is not an organisational habit in their company. Sophia, therefore, reasonably assumes that the understanding of the innovative process and the skills involved are low. She also knows that, although she herself likes creative thinking, it is more of a natural ability rather than a polished skill. For that reason, she recognises she also needs to learn more about the subject. Sophia has never taken on a task before where she needs to have a conscious impact on so many people, which in itself is a challenge she wants to overcome.
Sophia decides to learn more about innovation overall: innovation skills, tools, models and processes. On top of that, she must review how to best work with such a large stakeholder group, to communicate in a most effective and impactful way.
She will then find or design an innovation learning intervention where creative thinking and innovation learning can happen and be applied for the stakeholders.
What learnings are needed for you and your stakeholders? Capture your observations below.
This is what I need to learn about:
This is what my stakeholders need to learn about:
Roadmap step 6: the Game Plan
What needs doing?
Who will do it?
When will it be done?
Gone are the days when people could hold on to information, thinking that ‘knowledge is power’. The speed of change means that unhelpful competitive thinking is no longer desirable or sensible. The era of openness and even more transparency is upon us.
Any organisation that wants to raise levels of innovation and change progression needs to proactively get their employees communicating better, generously sharing what they know, their expertise, insights and experience, as well as their ideas.
Let us look at some ways you can release people’s innovative potential and make innovation a habit going forward.
Build innovation confidence
‘I’m not creative.’ We often hear people say that, and yet we know that is not true. Everyone has the ability to be creative, to contribute to an innovative dialogue and thereby drive innovation. Help people believe in their ability to be creative, encourage and push people to try it out and give their valuable input. Praise people when they get involved and tell them how it made a difference, how they had an impact on the outcome – make the links, make it easy to see so that getting involved feels normal or even a given.
Run PODS™ (power of dynamic sharing)
Use the brain powerhouse that is your organisation! At regular intervals, invite people to come together for the purpose of sharing all they know on a given subject. Increasingly, the speed of change means people do not have all the information they need. In fact, it is impossible to have all the information. Make the group as diverse as possible to get a wide range of views. And make sure you have a clear expected outcome. Why are we sharing this? People must understand there is a relevant and important purpose. Someone needs to facilitate to make sure there is fair sharing and everyone gets heard. Be prepared for – and invite – conflicting views, then manage the process carefully and ensure that key points are drawn out and captured. There must be a conclusion on how to use the shared information in the future, so the next step is to communicate the outcome and next steps.
Run internal and/or external ‘hackathons’
Take inspiration from the world of hackathons, where programmers come together during a short period of time, intensively working together to ‘hack away’ at old ways of doing something. Bring employees (and maybe even customers) together for a day or two to create a new product or service. The time constraint involved in hackathons is a great driver for focusing the mind and making it happen.
Use conflict to drive innovation
Do not fear conflict, welcome it for its innovative powers and use it carefully and respectfully. Talk about how different ideas and opinions lead to something better to encourage the team members to openly and honestly share their thoughts. If your team is hesitant to share their knowledge, intuitions and opinions, then temporarily you may have a quiet, seemingly calm team situation, but, sooner or later, it will result in greater divides between people, emotional outbursts and even team members who decide to leave the team. Managing team conflict is everyone’s responsibility, but leaders clearly need to take the lead to foster a climate of open exchange by encouraging people to talk, share, discuss and make decisions as a team. If a leader does this, then he/she can create a very powerful team where the efforts of a team can be multiplied along with the results because team members who have experienced conflict and resolved it grow stronger together.
Go and find the problems or opportunities – and start innovating
Encourage employees to actively look for problems; processes that are not working, unnecessary practices, handover breakdowns – as well as opportunities yet untapped: new industry practices, new target groups, customer interests. When everyone starts to come together and look for opportunities for innovation, step by step it builds a new habit of innovation.
Sophia is eager to put a detailed, specific Game Plan together. She knows that it will help her get the focus right, homing in on the activities that will make the biggest difference. She intends to create a step-by-step plan, outlining what to do each week and month, linked to the various stakeholder groups. Sophia is well aware that this is not something she should do on her own, though. She will need input not just from her Innovation Hub peers but also from a few key stakeholders – employees, leaders and senior leaders. Getting their input will increase her chances of buy-in to the whole initiative.
Very few people enjoy being told what to do. In fact, as Daniel H. Pink so eloquently points out in the book Drive, autonomy is one of the key drivers of intrinsic motivation. When we are given the chance to have a say over how we do things, we are more likely to actually do it. Why wouldn’t we? We have created it!
Sophia decides to create an innovation learning intervention, as well as creating the structured innovation process, i.e. how, when and where people will be invited to become involved. She will include PODS™ and hackathons in that process. On top of that, with the support of leaders, she will work on building innovation confidence in the organisation.
Complete your Game Plan below.
Roadmap step 7: how do you need to behave?
How do you need to behave? How will those behaviours make others feel so that they want to engage in and contribute to the organisation’s innovative efforts?
Here are a few factors to consider.
It starts with you. What are you role modelling? How much are you getting involved in the innovative dialogue?
The solutions you have identified in your Game Plan work best when carried out with supporting ‘how to’ behaviours. The actions on their own will take you so far. With the right behaviours, you walk the talk and your innovative impact is greater.
Let us get practical. Here are six leadership behaviours that can help create an innovative culture and environment.
Be curious
Let go of any ‘need to be right’, get rid of any sense of prestige and openly admit that you do not know everything, no one does. Listen without prejudice. Show that you value people’s differences and different opinions. Great innovation leaders are curious and open-minded, realising that what they knew yesterday may already be outdated. Great leaders do not get complacent, they keep looking outwards and inwards to see what is going on: what is happening in the world, what society needs, what customers need, what opportunities exist, what problems need solving, how to thrive in the long-term.
Be inclusive and generous
No one has all the answers. By sharing your leadership with others, by including others in discussions and decisions, a multitude of ideas and inspiration can start to cross-pollinate, enabling the creation of new ideas and solutions for innovative results. Great innovative leaders continuously invite their employees and other stakeholders to open, explorative dialogue that challenges the status quo.
Be relentlessly customer-centric
Have customers and their needs at the front of your mind at all times. Keep looking at things from their point of view: what do they need, what do they want, how can you make their lives easier? Consider the impact on customers in all you do. Be genuinely interested, walk the talk.
Think long term
Business is so much more than the ‘here and now’, yet it is easy to get caught up in the urgencies of the moment. And, as much as this is needed, forward-looking leaders are able to balance long- and short-term thinking, by setting goals and creating plans to achieve that balance. They spend a good chunk of time in the strategic, future space. Great innovation leaders continuously invest in R&D, budgeting with a long-term focus – investing for the future and sustainable business results.
Be courageous and resilient
With changes and progress come mistakes. There is no way that everything that is tried becomes a success. Indeed, some of the greatest innovations and results come from daring to try and learning from mistakes. Just look at Thomas Edison’s famous ‘mistake’ where he tried thousands of times to invent the lightbulb! Imagine if he had given up! But he did not. He had the courage to keep trying new things and the resilience to not give up despite the setbacks. ‘Innovation impact’ leaders encourage and coach others to take calculated risks and to learn from them. They are OK to shut ideas down if they do not work, not seeing it as failure but merely as new results to get closer to what is new and different. ‘There is no such thing as failure, only results’ is how they think.
Coach for innovation
Everyone can benefit from regular coaching, especially in a fast-changing world. Notice what your employees do and help them to hold up a metaphorical mirror on the work they do and how they perform it. This helps employees to keep learning and developing in line with the need for innovation and progress. Coaching leaders give people really good, specific feedback and observations on what went well and what could have gone better, all with the positive intent of creating learning. They create a learning culture by helping others to succeed and this allows for innovation to take place.
Transformational, lasting change happens at a behavioural level.
Transformational, lasting change happens at a behavioural level, so these six behaviours are a good place to start to achieve innovative impact and success. Leaders have to create a learning culture in themselves, as leaders and in others to make innovation really happen.
Sophia is becoming increasingly aware of her own learning gap when it comes to innovation, and she does not want this to come across as a shortcoming. She understands she must take control of how she behaves and comes across to her stakeholders to ensure their support and buy-in. Sophia is determined to boost her own confidence in her abilities first so she can naturally and authentically display her commitment to innovation – and her own learning plan will help with that. She knows she needs to be a consistent role model for innovation through her behaviours.
Sophia chooses to focus particularly on the following behaviours as she engages with stakeholders around the organisation: being curious and listening well, being courageous in speaking up, sharing ideas and trying new things (admitting that she does not have all the answers), being optimistic and always looking for possible solutions.
So, how do you choose to behave to release and drive innovation? The six behaviours above is not a complete list. Refer back to impactful behaviours in other chapters if you want more ideas.
Roadmap step 8: acknowledge obstacles
What obstacles are there? Or could there be? How can they be overcome?
According to a 2018 survey for innovation leaders, these are the top five obstacles to innovation in large companies.34 The percentages show how many of the 270 leaders indicated these as obstacles.
- Politics, turf war, lack of alignment (55 per cent)
- Cultural issues (45 per cent)
- Inability to act on critical signals or development (42 per cent)
- Lack of budget (41 per cent)
- Lack of strategy or vision (36 per cent)
These findings are further complemented by a study by BlessingWhite,35 which outlines the following barriers to internal innovation.
- No longer having the intent to innovate
- Employees not understanding what kinds of innovations are needed
- Not considering enough options (locking in on one option too early)
- Innovative ideas are perceived to be inconsistent with current business models
- Established organisations often asking employees to prove an idea will work before giving permission to take action
- Silo working stops the needed cross-silo teams to progress innovation
- Work environment challenges: getting access to talent, structures, cultural norms and leadership support
The organisation tends to work in functional silos where employees interact and communicate with each other only when there is a burning reason to. This means there is very little creative exchange across functions and, to some degree, even within functions due to time constraints.
So far, there has not been much communication about the competitive challenges the company is facing. This means the awareness of what kind of innovation is needed is just not there.
The Innovation Hub recognises that silo working is a major obstacle as is employees not knowing what innovation is needed. This is why they will work closely with the executive team in rethinking the current silo habits and how the silos can be broken down as well as further clarifying and then communicating the specific innovation needs.
What obstacles do you see that need overcoming – for you, the team(s), the organisation?
The obstacles I can foresee:
How I will overcome them:
Roadmap step 9: communicate, communicate, communicate
What will you communicate? Who, when, how, to whom? How do you need to be and behave in your communication?
When thinking about communication for a specific outcome, there are often two aspects of two-way communication that need particular attention.
The first one is framing – how will you frame the message overall, particularly when you first share it? Framing is very much about how you communicate, the words you use, the stories you tell, the way you help people see the importance in what you are saying. It is about communicating a message in such a way that you influence people to listen to you. How are you building in a feedback loop so you can get immediate input from those involved?
The second one is the structure and determination of ongoing progress and results communication needed to keep people motivated and help them see the progress made. This would, typically, involve frequency, method, channel and feedback loop.
As this will be a new way of working together across the organisation, it will be important to communicate at regular intervals with all the stakeholders to build their interest in and support for the initiative. They all need to be able to see that it is worthwhile doing, that it will lead to tangible results.
Sophia identifies the following key messages that her various stakeholders will benefit from hearing and being reminded of.
Employees:
- You play a crucial role in the company’s future.
- We need your brain powerhouse, we need your professional insights and your creative thinking!
- This is why innovation is so important for us all.
Senior leaders/sponsors:
- You are role models for the kind of innovation we need, to break new ground in the industry.
- You can break down the barriers to innovation created by our current structure.
- This is the progress we have made.
Other leaders:
- You can help your employees engage in innovation by …
- This is how we can support you …
- These are the results we are expecting to achieve …
- This is why innovation is so important for us.
What do you want your stakeholders to hear? Fill in the speech bubbles below.
Roadmap step 10: challenge the Roadmap
Challenge your draft impact Roadmap – how could you think of all of this differently?
OK, let us question everything one more time. What if there was another way to achieve this innovation outcome? Review what you have reflected on so far and ask yourself – how could I think of all this differently? Could there be a completely different approach to releasing people’s innovative potential and drive innovation more dynamically/effectively?
This process of completing this exercise in itself means you have to be innovative!
Or are there any additional ideas that you want to add to your plan so far?
Roadmap step 11: measure the success
How are you going to measure your innovation outcome? How will you know if you have achieved the level of innovative engagement and output you were aiming for? How will you ensure you follow through and follow up on your way to achieving the outcome? And how will you celebrate the success?
The Innovation Hub will be responsible for measuring progess both during the six months of the initial initiative described here, as well as once the innovative dialogue is up and running. The sponsors are expecting to see regular updates on progress and results.
Sophia and her colleagues in the Innovation Hub will continue their thought leadership and communicate progress and results on a monthly basis to all employees.
They will measure success based on how many employees have got involved in innovative dialogue in the first three months (after kick-off). The goal is to have at least 25 per cent having had some kind of input in that time.
Success will be celebrated through a quarterly innovative thinking award.
How will you make sure you follow through and measure and celebrate success?
This is how I will follow through and follow up:
This is how I will measure success:
This is how I will celebrate success:
THE EFFECT ON CULTURE
An organisation’s culture around creativity drives the level of innovation it achieves. A more innovative organisation is much more likely to be more profitable. The extent to which employees are allowed to be creative and innovative influences the culture. If people are allowed to take risks or try new things out, it encourages a culture of innovation. Being blamed and shut down when people make mistakes or things do not go as planned can create a different kind of culture. The innovative culture is driven by everyday behaviours of leaders, once again minute by minute, interaction by interaction. Your behaviour counts.
Now that you have worked your way through how you will lead to achieve innovative impact, you may also want to transfer your notes and create a complete plan by filling in the Impact Roadmap Worksheet at the back of the book or by downloading it from www.2020visionleader.com/ImpactRoadmap.
