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Innovation Culture
A good innovation culture has the following
characteristics:
Questioning environment
An enquiring and curious mind, or a mind that challenges status
quo are important elements of innovation culture. One of Googles
CEO Eric Schmidt says,
We run a company by questions, not by answers. So in the strategy
process, we have so far formulated 30 questions that we have to
answer. What are the next big breakthroughs in search? And the
competitive questions: what do we do about the various products
Microsoft is allegedly offering? You ask a question, rather than give a
pithy answer, and that stimulates conversations. Out of the
conversation comes innovation.
Innovation is not a phenomenon where I just wake up one
day and say, I want to innovate. I think you get a better
innovative culture if you ask it as a question.
A questioning mind opens the vistas of the unknown.
Innovation makes the unknown known.
People have resistance to challenge the status quo. They do
not venture with the risk of new thinking. These
psychological barriers have to be overcome.
Good leaders should encourage people to question and not to
conform to everything which is being said and done without reason.
Questions should be welcomed and not ridiculed.
One of the crucial elements in taking a company from good to great is
somewhat paradoxical. You need executives, on one hand, who argue
and debate, sometimes violently in pursuit of the best answers, yet
on the other hand who fully unify behind a decision, regardless of
parochial interests.
Employees should be questioning and yet supportive.
Not condemning failure
Failures make us learn. Failures occur because of error in
management.
Errors are of two types: those of negligence and those made
by error by judgement.
Error of negligence is punishable, but error of judgement
should not be penalized, people would not try new
initiatives.
Distinguish between two kinds of failures, honourable
failure where an honest attempt at something new or
different has been tried unsuccessfully, and incompetent
failure where people fail for lack of effort or competence in
standard operations.
A leader plays an important role in making sure people know
that honourable failure will not be criticisedget people to
admit or even boast failures they have had, where they tried
something innovative that did not succeedTurning these
into learning experiences.
Employee Empowerment
Freedom is the genesis of innovation. Employees should be
empowered to take decisions, implement and try out their
ideas.
We never know what idea might turn out to be a good
innovation.
Good leaders back and support the new ideas of employees.
Ideas of every employee should be tried and tested and they
should be empowered to try and test their ideas.
Trust
Employee empowerment would only work if there is trust amongst
employees. Employees should never be over-controlled.
Instead, openness and frank dialogue with employees should be
encouraged.
Goals rather than tasks and ends rather than means need to be
discussed.
The employee should be supported in their meaningful initiatives and
given a reasonable free space to think and act, which would lead to
creativity.
The efforts and honest endeavours should be appreciated, even if
they fail.
Trust is built over a period of time. People basically like to be trusted.
Drive obsolescence of products
New products should be developed to make existing products
obsolete, before a competitor or the market does the same.
We need to realize that the market in the 21st century is rapidly
ever changing, and we have to continuously reinvent to stay
market-relevant.
A continuous on-going scientific temperament to develop new
products is necessary for a good innovation culture.
Leadership for Innovations
An innovation leader has to cultivate all the following elements:
1) Visionary
2) Ethical perspective
3) Crisis management
4) Cheer-person/Motivator
5) Diversity manager
6) Change agent
7) Futuristic perspective
Leaders Role in Encouraging Creativity A
Challenge