Making sure people are heard

If there one thing the quality movement has taught us, it is that it makes sense to listen to everyone, particularly the working man who does the work. People who feel that they are heard, are likely to solve problems online. Participation is the reward we give to those who respect us. The Industrial Revolution made a thinking, feeling, human being a cog in the wheel. Competition has forced us to bring back humanness into the workplace because it could increase profits. Instituting co-operation and commitment are key to better performance and perhaps innovation.

Creative Problem Solving

Creative problem solving in an art and a science and can be learnt like swimming or singing. Genius is a fact, but everyone can learn to be much more creative than they are by learning problem solving methods. Another area that is rich in possibilities is the possibility of overcoming, self restricting obstacles that are cultural in nature. Women, for instance, are taught to strictly follow rules. Those at the bottom of corporate hierarchies, are told to just follow instructions. Stereotypes have destroyed many budding innovators. The environment itself can be so hostile that only the most obvious and time tested ideas are verbalized. The culturally enforced need to be sensible and practical can prevent many conformists from presenting anything truly creative. These self imposed barriers to creativity can be removed by awareness and organizational interventions.

Principles of Everyday Innovation

If you want to be more creative and Innovative

* Constantly Focus on MTB
That’s Making things Better in every quadrant of your life – family, work, social and personal.

* Develop A New Skill
People who solve crossword puzzles every day have greater ability to think on their feet.

* Debug Problem Areas
Stuck with a problem? Take stock of the six ‘M’s – Men, Materials, Methods, Markets and Money and identify the bug. Then work towards removing it, negotiating it or dealing with it.

* Start Using Thinking Tools
It’s tent thinking versus marble palace thinking. Take everything that is permanent and try making it temporary.

* Develop Networks
Have a list of people who will help you when you need it. In their hurry to prove themselves, professionsals, often try to take on things that are beyond their capacity.

* Make Personal Time
You might be the last word in professionalism, but you won’t be able to be very creative and innovative unless you have a life.

* Turn Problems upside Down
Separate thinking from the action. Don’t limit your thinking while conceiving an idea or bringing out a solution.

* Focus on Implementation
Innovation is about turning wild ideas into action. Sift through your ideas and decide on implementation.

Risk taking in work related context

Taking risk is key to innovation. The more formal a company is, the less likely are people likely to do anything to rock the boat. Doing new things does involve some professional risk to the person leading the initiative. A lot of hand holding by top management can encourage people to take risks.

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.

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.

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.