Want Innovation? Get Out of the Way
cc image used courtesy of Vermin Inc on flickr
We hear a lot about innovation and change these days. Everyone is talking about it, every is doing it, or at least trying to. There’s a problem though, change and innovation require more than lip service. Declaring that you are innovative does not make it so.
You know what I’m talking about, someone reads an article, attends a presentation, has a conversation over coffee and comes back to work and says – we’re going to be innovative! Maybe there are even a few committees put together. But then what? Nothing. The committees quit meeting and things go back to the way they were. Maybe one or two people are still trying, but no one is listening.
You know why? Because innovation doesn’t happen by committee or decree.
Organizations do not innovate. People innovate. Inspired people. Fascinated people. Creative people. Committed people. That’s where innovation begins. On the inside.
The organization’s role — just like the individual manager’s role — is to get out of the way. And while this “getting out of the way” will undoubtedly include the effort to formulate supportive systems, processes, and protocols, it is important to remember that systems, processes, and protocols are never the answer. - Mitch Ditkoff
So how do you create a culture of innovation? You start with the people who think differently than you do.
Diversity is one of those sticky terms that people seem to boil down to creating a Benetton ad. Diversity isn’t about some magical collection of five differently colored skin tones. It’s about bringing different perspectives and backgrounds to the table and creating an environment that values what can be gained from different voices who’ve taken different paths. Skin color (or gender performance) is often interpreted as a reasonable substitute for this and, for many reasons, it has been historically. But bringing in a woman whose attitude and approach is just as masculine as the men isn’t going to help your team break outside of its current mindset. They key is to bring people who think differently than you - danah boyd*
Then get out of their way.
Once you’ve hired a good staff, you sit down, you formulate a plan and then you get out of their way. John Limbert
Let them do what you hired them to do.
The really good people want autonomy — you let me do it, and I’ll do it. So I told the people I recruited: “You come in here and you’ve got to keep me informed, but you’re the guy, and you’ll make these decisions. It won’t be me second-guessing you. But everybody’s going to win together. We’re part of a team, but you’re going to run your part.” That’s all they want. They want a chance to do it. - Gordon M. Bethune
You can not force innovation to happen. You can provide the autonomy, the trust to allow people to be innovative.
Read more:
- Smart Leaders Get out of the way
- Remember to Share the Stage
- Treat Your Staff Like Adults and See What Happens
- Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation
- Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
- Control is an Illusion You Need to Let Go
*danah boyd’s post is about gender issues and being a woman in todays workforce. It’s worth a read (and mostly likely a blog post) in is own right.
Managers – The Message You’re Sending About Time is Affecting Customer Service
CC image courtesy of Robbert van der Steeg on Flickr
The choice you need to make is will it affect it in a good way or a bad way?
We are all busy. My to-do list is so long at this point I keep a master running list and a small list just for today, because looking at the long list inspires panic.
As individuals, managers and organizations it can be easy to keep adding responsibilities, expectations and tasks to our list and to the lists of others. Especially at a time like this, when you may be short staffed, or just busier than normal (library usage goes up during a recession) or both.
Unfortunately this attitude towards time can really hurt you in customer service. How staff feel about their time and the expectation from management affects how they interact with patrons. It’s the difference between handing someone a call number and vaguely gesturing towards the stacks and leaving the desk and walking the patron to the book. It’s the difference between hand the book over and walking away or asking if you can help them find anything else. It shows up in the type of greeting patrons receive in that minutes of extra chit-chat so many love, in determining if the information they are asking for is really the information they are seeking.
Don’t think it’s just front line staff either. It can mean the difference in pulling that raggedy looking book or letting it circulate one more time, in ensuring the door knobs and other areas are properly disinfected, in how fast a phone call is returned. I could go on but I think you get the idea.
Want to get smart about time? Here are some suggestions from How Smart Leaders Talk About Time on Harvard Business.
1) Establish a shared language that distinguishes between the “pressure on time” and “impact on goals” factors.
Team leaders often fail to make this distinction clear. Tasks are transmitted without specifying if the emphasis on such task is due to:
- a combination of the above mentioned two factors
- the fact the task has a remarkable impact on the individual or group’s goals
- the restricted timeframe within which the task must be completed
2) Reduce those activities that, despite being important, must be performed under pressure. (emphasis mine)
A successful leader reduces “urgent and important” activities to a minimum, by monitoring:
- How tasks are planned and delegated.
- How “urgent and important” activities can be reduced.
- How much free-of-distraction time people have for high-impact activities.
Want to Innovate? Stop Working So Hard
Putting in all those extra hours, either from the office or home, isn’t help you. At least not with creativity, innovation or those ah-ha! moments.
Some of our greatest moments of insight happen where we least expect them to. From the Wallstreet Journal:
It happened to Archimedes in the bath. To Descartes it took place in bed while watching flies on his ceiling. And to Newton it occurred in an orchard, when he saw an apple fall.
From the same article but even more interesting:
Left to its own devices, our brain activates several areas associated with complex problem solving, which researchers had previously assumed were dormant during daydreams. Moreover, it appears to be the only time these areas work in unison.
Of course it’s not as simple as just lounging about in your robe & fuzzy slippers. You have to prepare in order to enable those insights to happen. From Fast Company:
The researchers found support for the idea that blinding insights favor a prepared mind–that is, you’ve got to really internalize the problem at hand if you’re to find any sort of solution. But to actually bring those insights to life, you’ve got to step back.
More Readings
- A Wandering Mind Heads Straight Toward Insight: Researchers Map the Anatomy of the Brain’s Breakthrough Moments and Reveal the Payoff of Daydreaming
- Hard Work’s Overrated, Maybe Detrimental.
- The Eureka Hunt
- How to Become a Design Genius: Take Time Off. Lots of It.
- Stefan Sagmeister: The power of time off – TED talk video
It’s not about the money
I’ve been reading, watching and listening to a lot about motivation lately. Not intentionally but once you start thinking about what motivates people to create, to participate, to get involved it starts to show up in places you don’t expect it. Sometimes I got looking for it too. Over and over I notice the same theme, it’s not about the money. Sure money is important up to a certain point, but after that you need something else.
In times like these when we are asked to do more with less this is something managers should keep in mind.
One of the videos I watched is this TED talk by Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation. He talks about the mismatch of what science knows about motivation and what business does. Essentially as long as you’re paying people adequately and fairly, money is no longer the most powerful motivation. Watch the video and maybe buy the book
There are a lot of interesting points, here is one of my favorites:
“Results Only Work Environment. The ROWE. Created by two American consultants, in place in place at about a dozen companies around North America. In a ROWE people don’t have schedules. They show up when they want. They don’t have to be in the office at a certain time, or any time. They just have to get their work done. How they do it, when they do it, where they do it, is totally up to them. Meetings in these kinds of environments are optional.
What happens? Almost across the board, productivity goes up, worker engagement goes up, worker satisfaction goes up, turnover goes down.”
What do you think? If more money wouldn’t motivate you, what would?
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