Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
1
Introduction
Not long ago we spoke to a senior leader in a Even in more stable times, strategy execution of-
large multinational organization who voiced his ten fails because companies neglect to take into
frustration about the lack of innovation in his account the inevitable inertia within the organiza-
businesseven after a year-long campaign to tion best represented by the slogan, Culture Eats
turn things around. By the time solutions filtered Strategy for Breakfast. An analysis of several
up the hierarchy to him, they were totally de- studies correlating organizational performance
risked and lacked creativity. The culture of the with culture using the Denison Organizational
organization led managers to strip away any in- Survey found that culture . . . is an important
novation found in new ideasrendering solutions predictor of organizational performance. (Dis-
that were weak, limited in scope, and impotent. covery Learning, 2007)
The executive said he wanted to create a culture
of innovation that would allow ideas to grow and
flourish, add value, and help the organization Innovation involves implementing
achieve its growth targets.
something new that adds value or
Hes not alone in his concerns, as evidenced by
how hot a topic innovation is today. But that
quantifiable gain. It requires many
wasnt always the case. At one time, strategy was skillsets, usually those of a team.
king. Forecasting, planning, and placing smart
bets created the power sources within organi-
zations. The future of a business (or a career) It should be no surprise that in these uncertain
followed an established framework. If leaders times, innovation is the buzzword du jour (again)
managed well, success would follow. and remains critical to an organizations top and
Today, complexity and uncertainty are palpable. bottom line. Without new sources of value
Planning for even the next quarter is a challenge. whether thats defined in terms of quantity of
Even more difficult is committing to decisions revenue or quality of lifemost organizations
that will play out over one to five years. In the eventually wither and die. The world around them
words of one senior executive: Weve lost our changes and competitors emerge to provide the
crystal ball. What is the next breakthrough prod- same offerings more effectively or efficiently.
uct, game-changing service, or compelling vision? Research by Soo et al. (2002) concluded, The
Whats the process for getting there? greater the amount of innovation, the greater the
For Individual Contributors: Knowing how and structural changes to accommodate promising
to generate novel solutions and approaches indi- innovations, playing a vital role in establishing an
vidually, understanding how to participate on an innovation strategy that bridges silos, modeling
innovation team with others unlike themselves and behavior and driving communication that sets the
finding sources of inspiration for new approaches. tone in support of innovation. Management of the
pipeline of new products, processes, and services is
For First-Level Managers: Knowing about also a critical role for a very senior leader to ensure
and leading group innovation processes, being an the right mix of innovation bets.
effective team leader and project manager, and
finessing resources from outside their unit. For Executive Leaders at the Top of the
Organization: Setting an innovation strategy for
For Mid-Level Managers: Supporting and the organization and fostering a culture of innova-
protecting the innovation team from superiors and tionincluding modeling behaviors that promote
other parts of the organization, ensuring due dili- a shift in the culture and communicating the vision
gence in building a case for grass roots innovations over and over again so everyone knows that new,
and bridging groups that are working on similar different, and disruptive ideas are supported at the
challenges to ensure constructive cooperation. top of the organization. Executive leaders might also
want to discover ways to get unfiltered concepts
For Managers of Functions: Managing con- that havent been de-risked by the many layers of
flicting demands for resources, initiating strategic
management in the organization.
Create a mandate for change, backed by a than reinventing the wheel on a yearly basis.
strategy that embraces innovation. If you are The issues become focal points for employee
not senior enough to create the mandate, creativityrather than random contributions
gather peers around you who share your pas- to a suggestion box.
sion for innovation and collectively approach
Create highly diverse teams to address
those who can create the mandate, or scale
strategic issues. Help them overcome limiting
it back to a level where you have authority
differences so diversity becomes a source of
to make it happen. Use the IBM 2010 CEO
novel ideas.
Study, IBM 2011 Creative Leadership Studies,
2012 Capgemini Innovation Leadership Study, Give people access to creative methods
and other evidence to get their attention. and experiences. Even those with creative
potential get stuck. Readily available tools,
Model what it will take individually and
methods, and experiences help them reframe
collectively for the organization to become
and think differently about challenges and
more innovative. It is particularly important
opportunities.
for senior leaders to walk the talk. Our col-
leagues McGuire and Rhodes (2009) describe Design and build systems to nurture in-
this as head room, demonstrating courage, novation. Look for low-cost ways to test and
thoughtfulness, and vulnerability and model- prototype new solutions.
ing new behaviors that facilitate a shift in
culture. Make managing the tension between Champion ideas that dont quite fit and
business thinking and innovative thinking a network with your peers to find a home for
priority. them. Actively break down barriers to inno-
vation, including internal politics and de-
Communicate challenging strategic structive criticism, as well as hurdles, gates,
issues throughout the organization. Use and other unnecessary systems.
them as vehicles for promoting collabora-
tion and seeking creative ideas. The IRS, for
example, creates a rolling strategy, rather
Catalytic mechanisms (Collins, 1999). Look Enabling processes and systems. To break
for ways to create simple and effective ways down the organizational barriers to innova-
to reinforce the message that innovation is tion, ensure that people have appropriate
important. Speak in compelling and simple governance, funding, resources, support, and
ways that motivate people. access to decision-makers.
Culture that supports innovation. Culture Room to run with ideas. Innovation rarely
can kill strategy, so pay constant attention to works according to plan. It flourishes only in
ways you can build and maintain a culture of a culture where its possible for people to try,
innovation. It is vital if you want to ensure make mistakes, and learn from what happens.
your strategy has a chance of survival.
A culture of telling what, rather than
People with the right mindset. Having the how. Finally, remember that the leaders
right tools and developing the right skills job is not to tell people how to do things, nor
without the right mindset is like having a is it to have all the great ideas. Nothing kills
high-performance automobile without gaso- innovation more than the know-it-all leader.
line. Leaders must be role models and encour- Ensure that you model appropriate humility,
age people to develop their ability to defer offer up your best challenge, and then get
judgment, tolerate ambiguity, and be genu- out of the way to let people amaze you with
inely curious. Otherwise, everything else on novel, useful, and potentially
the innovation agenda will sputter to a stop valuable solutions.
on the side of the road.
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