Article in Business India - August 2014

Define goals and impact

Revisit your goals and reconsider the impact of each solution the goals on the company. In view of the thinking process and ideas generated, it may be necessary to reconsider and restate the goals. Impact of the ideas can be measured against the 6M framework. Or it could be measured merely against the bottom line. Critical to the goals are the 6M resources required to implement the idea. Identify the key parameters by which the outcomes will be measured. These parameters may be then prioritized. Ensure that all the ideas generated are displayed, presented and reflected upon. Put posters with all ideas around your Innovation Centre. Members of all teams can be invited to study them and add their suggestions. This is the time for debate and discussions.

Implement with action teams

The problem owners should review activities of the action team members and plan how to gradually involve all members of the unit in the plan. Each of the team members now have a chance to understand what the endeavour will involve. Informal sessions to discuss the plan and to become comfortable with it must be planned including a grand launch to win buy-in from stakeholders. Help each team member to be comfortable with their activities. Hand hold and enhance links between different departments. Studies show that turf protection prevents efficient implementation. Team members become too involved in playing politics instead of playing to win for the company. Organizational energy should be carefully focused on the task

Innovation Sutra at Mumbai

Dr. Rekha Shetty's eighth book was launched at World Trade Center, Center 1 Building, WTC complex, Cuffe Parade, Mumbai along with the Bombay Management Association on Tuesday, 12th August 2014 at 6.30pm. Here is the photo of the launch: Caption - From L-R: Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, MVIRDC World Trade Centre (WTC) & President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI), Ms. Rupa Naik, Director-Projects, Mrs. Rekha Shetty, Managing Director, Farstar Distribution Network Ltd, Mr. Y.R. Warerkar, Executive Director, MVIRDC WTC, Mr. V. Sarangapani, Executive Director, Bombay Management Association during the book launch of Mrs. Shetty’s `Innovation Sutra’ jointly organized by MVIRDC WTC and AIAI.

Innovation Sutra at Pune

Dr. Rekha Shetty's eighth book, "Innovation Sutra" was launched at Landmark SGS Mall, Shop no.1, Ground floor, No 231 Moledina Road,pune Camp, Pune-411001 on Friday, 8th August 2014 at 6.00pm. Here are the photos of the launch:

Innovation Sutra at Mangalore

Dr. Rekha Shetty's eighth book, "Innovation Sutra" is launched at Sapna Store, Hampankatta, Mangalore on Friday, 4th July 2014 at 5.30pm. Here are the photos of the launch

Innovation Sutra at Chennai

Dr. Rekha Shetty's eighth book, "Innovation Sutra" was launched at P S Dakshinamurthi Auditorium, P S Senior Secondary School, R K Mutt Road, Mylapore, Chennai-4 on Wednesday, 16th July 2014 at 6.00pm. Here are the photos enclosed

Analysis : the gateway to solutions

In the creative thinking process, incubation is followed by ‘Analysis.’ During the process of analysis, apply left-brain thinking – logical, statistical and mathematical. Solutions have to be carefully discussed and the optimum one chosen. The solutions are analyzed against the parameters chosen by the problem owner. Some prevalent parameters are: • Time • Budget • Convenience • Human resources • Goodwill and impact on staff motivation levels • Aesthetics • Saving lives • Political capital

Total Immersion in ideas

Following total immersion in the ideas collected, the past, present and future possibilities come next. This is time for quiet reflection, allowing the mind to absorb all that has happened. Incubation is the period when the ideas are handed over to the vast computer which is the sub-conscious. It is a secret computer into which everything one has ever thought or felt or experienced or smelt or touched, flows. Many inventions are the result of a flash of inspiration, happening during incubation. Whether it was Newton or James Watts inventing his steam engine, while watching the steam puffing out of a teapot on the stove, the moment of illumination happened during a silent gap in the storm of thoughts. Incubation is critical. Spend years working and thinking. Then switch off and let go. Hand over the problem to the subconscious, so that the universe may step in. A total change of scene can aid incubation. A participant once recalled how after months of searching a moped launch, the team went to a movie about high fashion in Paris. He experienced an Aha! moment right there. The moped had so far been sold as a poor man’s scooter: in dingy dealer outlets. Presented in a lovely, stylish ambience, the whole brand was changed to express a style statement with romantic overtones. The moped suddenly became a fashion accessory. The best ideas are stimulated during incubation

Incubation: Process and Benefits

 During idea generation, a list of alternative solutions are generated, seeds are sown.  During incubation the seeds are allowed to sprout, to grow unobstructed.  During analysis the plants are pruned and weeds are removed, till only the usable alternatives remain.  Implementation involves choosing the final solution, planning, developing a detailed roadmap, communicating it to the teams and finally acting on the blueprint.

Incubation

After idea generation, the next step in the thinking process is incubation. An incubator is a machine or an environment which helps nacent organisms to grow and develop in a protected environment. Delicate seeds are germinated and incubated in a farm house. Ideas are helped to grow during incubation. A premature baby is provided a womb like atmosphere in a hospital incubator. Incubation is what a mother hen does with own egg. She sits on it and provides a warm supportive climate and allows nature to take its own course. It is the calm before the storm of analysis and action. It is interesting to note how one shifts gear between the left and right brain during the process of innovation. When involved in problem statement one uses the logical left brain. There is a dramatic shift to the right brain during idea generation. During incubation you need to let go and allow both sides to operate naturally without any effort. Rather like a kite being carried by the wind, the string in the hands of a dreamer. The capacity to shift gears smoothly between the left and right brain is required. The image of the creative, impractical dreamer is only a myth. The innovative thinker is a man of action, both sides of the brain, synchronized into one whole. Again, during analysis, one switches on the keen left brain, processing all the ideas through logic, statistics and number crunching. What is clear is that an innovator has to be equally facile in using both sides of the brain. The left brain which is logical, mathematical and statistical and the right brain which is poetic, holistic and creative, are both required during the process of innovation.

Leadership

Continuous innovation in a large successful company is uniquely difficult because at the heart of innovation lies the paradox of destruction. Leaders who foster a culture of innovation have 3 key attributes :- 1) The first attribute is the willingness to destroy what exists. It is important to show some insensitivity to your past in order to show proper respect for the future. 2) The second attribute of great leaders of innovation is a powerful sense of purpose. Corporate renewal through innovation is a long cycle process. It cannot flourish in a 'Flavour of the Month' environment. Consistency of direction and purpose is important. 3) The third attribute of great leaders of innovation is personal involvement in sustaining a stretching but supportive innovation culture. High performance innovation companies continuously enhance their gene pool. They suck in ideas and reach out for help wherever they can. 'Not invented here' is the enemy of innovation. Only the ignorant believe they have the right answer. The best companies look outside for help - at customers, suppliers and specialist 'Hot Shop' start ups.

Creativity And Creation

Creation is defined in the dictionary as 'to bring into being or form out of nothing'. Plato focused on the mystery of creativity when he said "A poet is holy and never able to compose, until he has become inspired and is beside himself, and reason is no longer in him....for not by art does he alter these but by power divine". Arthen Koestler goes into the realm of logic when he speaks of the 'bisociation of matrices'. "We cannot wait for great visions from great people, for they are in short supply...It is up to us to light our own small fires in the darkness". Each person in an organization has ideas. Depending on the nature of the climate or field in the company, the ideas flourish and bloom or fade and die. Without the oxygen of support and applause, ideas frequently die early. Creativity is a context specific subjective judgement of the novelty and value of an outcome of individuals or collective behaviour.

Outstanding Leadership

I believe that while creativity is something that is intrinsic to all humans and can be triggered off in a variety of ways, innovation requires that companies consciously create conditions where strategic and organisational issues are creatively resolved through the involvement of people. In my opinion, there are three essential conditions that can stimulate innovation in organisations. They are: a) A culture that empowers people. b) Recognition for innovative thinking. c) Prevalence of outstanding leadership. Too often, however, companies are unable to elicit the involvement of their people because there has been no conscious effort to share the 'larger picture' with everybody. Commitment, which most industrial leaders claim is lacking amongst today's employees, is directly related to the extent of sharing information and to the extent of trust that is created thereby. A formal system of recognition and public encouragement for innovative thinking, goes a long way in communicating what the company expects from its members. Organisations that demonstrate high levels of innovation are those that share belief that things can always be made better than they are today. Normally in organisations, services and in production, the person who is not that creative but is a team man is a better person than the other. Of course if you have a very creative person who is also a team man, you get the best of both the worlds! To us, innovation is at the heart of what it takes corporations to create and sustain leadership. It has far more to do with continually challenging the status - quo and pushing for corporate self renewal, than it has to do with creativity and ingenuity.

Idea Generation - Extended effort

Very often we tend to use the first idea that emerges particularly if it is a good idea. That is why the enemy of a better idea is often a good idea. Very often, you develop a single minded infatuation with your idea, thus shutting the door to other ideas. Extended effort involves spending a lot of time or simply generating a number of options. You could give your group a target - go on generating multiple options till you reach 100. Focus should be on idea fluency. The internal 'Censor Board' takes a vacation. All ideas are simply recorded in an atmosphere of nurturing and appreciation.

The Negative Field

If some people in the group feel excluded they cannot contribute good ideas. They may even change the nature of a positive field by their unhappiness. Just as a drop of cyanide can poison a clear pool of water, so too the unhappiness of a single person can poison the field in a home or a company. They give off toxic waves of hostility, and they can turn a flourishing field into a desert. A negative field is toxic with distrust. In the negative field, individuals are afraid to think differently; new ideas wither before they are formulated. In such a field, only the most obvious ideas, which appear practical and sensible alone, will be shared. All, but the oldest ideas will be rejected. They are probably centuries old. All, but the most obvious ideas will be rejected. A child who is never praised or complimented turns into an insecure adult with little self esteem and he does not want to say or do anything that others will laugh at. So afraid does he become of hostility that continued exposure to this type of negative field can cause many health problems . It is necessary at all times to make sure that the creation of a negative field is carefully avoided. Dealing with anger RED LIGHT 1. Stop, calm down and think before you act. YELLOW LIGHT 2. State the problem and how you feel. 3. Set a positive goal. 4. Think of lots of solutions 5. Think ahead to consequences GREEN LIGHT 6. Go ahead and try the best plan.