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.

Spending time solving problems

Many managements are involved in fire fighting and solving urgent matters which have developed into crisis situations. Time needs to be set apart to study alternative solutions to the banks of problems that lie under the surface of a running organization, constantly fighting for time. Don’t fix it, if it aint broke’, say the Americans, meaning do not change, if it is working well. This is disastrous advice in the present context of rapid change. Alternatives have, necessarily to be developed when things are going well. Status quo is the gateway to overnight obsolescence. Innovation should be planned when things are going well. When things are going badly, when survival itself is an issue, no one has the time or energy to look for alternatives.

Providing Challenging Jobs

In the past, traditional, Indian managements maintained a shroud of secrecy regarding the company’s achievements, particularly its financial performance. Today it is well established that informed participants are better than unwilling victims sacrificed for the company’s profits. Sharing knowledge and profits have gone a long way in achieving better performance. Many companies have introduced performance based incentives as a key component of their salaries.

Constructive performance feedback

Productivity depends on performance feedback, as does the innovation. There is no incentive to think outside the box, when no one listens or cares. Positive affirmation is the key to ensuring that people stretch to think innovatively. 360 degree feedback provides young innovators an opportunity to give their bosses clear feedback on a less than conducive environment. A system to clearly map individual competences and provide consistent timely feedback, can result in providing appropriate training when required.

Customer focus on Innovation

Incorporating the customer’s voice into a product is one of the most important methods of ensuring market led innovation. Often the companies assume they know what customers want. But fashions change and so do customer tastes. Nestle, found in the 80’s that their market share for chocolates was plummeting. They conducted a TCC or Tapping Customer Creativity, that is, when customers (school children) and officials of the company, learned tools of innovation in a non-threatening atmosphere and explored the field. It was found that modern children did not like chocolates which were too sweet. They also wanted some health benefits from the chocolate. The result of incorporating these suggestions is history – Nestle made a dazzling comeback with chocolates that were less sweet and were garnished with biscuits and nuts.

Cutting edge technologies

Cutting edge technologies were considered among the most important areas for ensuring success of the company. Merely incorporating cutting edge technology can make or mar a whole industry. When the flourishing textile mills of Coimbatore failed to keep pace with the cutting edge technologies adopted by the Japanese, the whole industry went into doldrums. Conversely, when Tirupur technocrats decided to incorporate world class spinning technology, this small Tamil town found a place in the world class facility for spun knit wear.

Stimulating Innovation

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, organizational issues are creatively resolved through the involvement of people. In my opinions there are three essential conditions that can stimulate innovation in organizations, and these are: • A culture that empowers people • Recognition of innovative thinking, and • 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 many corporate leaders claim is lacking amongst today’s employees, is directly related to the extent of sharing of 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.