JAZZ of INNOVATION MANAGEMENT (Inspirational Micro-course)

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The Jazz of Innovation To jazz up your ability to innovate, turn to jazz – create a clear guiding structure, establish a creative chaos environment within this structure to liberate people and trigger accidental discoveries, and encourage improvisation. There is a clear structure to good jazz. Similarly, the flexible improvisation-driven model for innovation project management encourages improvisation within a guiding structure. In innovation, this structure is created through roadmaps, guiding principles, business processes, systems and organizational charts. Strategic-planning and road-mapping processes cannot guarantee brilliant flashes of creative insight, but they can prepare minds and increase the odds that such flashes occur in real time. Thus structure, as chords do in jazz, serves as a basis for improvisation, experimentations, discoveries and innovation. The "Inherent Sloppiness" of Innovation Tom Peters researched many innovative companies and had been impressed in his researches by the "inherent sloppiness" of innovation. The "messy world", or the "creative chaos environment", is its "given precondition". The necessary solution has three parts, each one leading on to the next: experimentation, champions, and decentralized bands. To take advantage of that “inherent sloppiness” of innovation, managers must generate the right climate for creativity, experimentation, and individualism, and encourage iconoclasts and rule-breakers. Case in Point: IDEO – Designed Chaos and Hands-Off Management Fast Company magazine calls IDEO "the world's most celebrated design firm . “ When David Kelley began IDEO, he was determined to forego the structural demands of big corporations and refused to install a management hierarchy. His first order of business was to create an environment in which his workers would be happy and free to think creatively. Mostly, Kelley's style is hands-off, allowing employees to become their own bosses. At IDEO, there is no corporate hierarchy and no management structure. Employees are invited, not ordered, to attend meetings, and can also decide where they want to work and can tell the CEO what they really think of his ideas. Out of this chaos have come products that have made a deep impact on society. ( Virtual Advisor Inc. )

Recommendations for Stimulating Innovative Idea Generation Establish the spirit of relentless growth in your organization. Create strategic intent, set stretch goals, emphasize a misfit between the current state and corporate aspirations, actively encourage the quest for new opportunities, and create and sustain strategic momentum for radical innovation. Establish innovation system for getting radical innovations out of the lab and into commercialization projects. Instill confidence, turn people loose and encourage outside-the-box thinking. Create an atmosphere where people are confident that how far and fast they move is constrained only by the limits of their creativity and drive and by their standards of personal excellence. Make business fun. As business today is about passion and winning and creating new things, fun must be a big element in the business strategy. Establish a creative chaos environment. Accidental discoveries are triggered by chaos and contradictions, rather than by order and logic. Involve everyone, show people that their ideas are valued, and make sure that it is the person with the best idea who wins. Reward authors of innovative ideas. Rewarding idea generation motivates people, makes them feel important, drives participation, creates loyalty, delivers quality, recognizes value, and demonstrates management commitment to innovation. Create a questioning culture and encourage people to ask "Why?", "What If?" and searching questions continuously. Establish guiding principles for quick evaluation of a proposed new course of action and develop a receiving capacity for innovation so that creative people have a place to go with their radical ideas. Let people experiment with their ideas, allow the freedom to fail and try again – more intelligently.

Provide strategic alignment. Create an inspiring vision and launch a crusade. Link the innovation strategy with corporate vision, goals, objectives, and strategy. Develop a strategic innovation roadmap to choose and do the right things. Define the innovation process publicly. Help people understand how they fit into the system as a whole. Document your innovation process explicitly via maps and charts, and communicate it implicitly by words and practice. Build cross-functional expertise to harness the power of diversity and discover synergies. Develop cross-functional individuals. Shuffle portfolios. Establish diverse cross-functional innovation teams. Establish a creative chaos environment to inspire creativity and trigger accidental discoveries. Find the right balance between order and chaos. Challenge assumptions. Think outside-the-box. Ask searching questions "Why?" and "What If?" to identify hidden problems and opportunities. Brainstorm every day. Cross-pollinate. Incorporate a wide range of styles, skills, and perspectives. Encourage comments and ideas. Inspire advocates and critics. Invite outsiders – experts, customers, suppliers, partners. Change hats to evaluate ideas. Reward idea generation. People want to know their ideas make a difference. Recognition encourages people to participate and make quality contributions. Experiment to pursue opportunities, acquire new skills, learn from feedback and discover new opportunities. Create prototypes to visualize and test your ideas, inspire new ideas, and sell your ideas to your sponsors and peers. Allow freedom to fail. Failure provides a great learning opportunity and should be viewed as a very lifeblood of success. Learn from failures, regroup, and start again more intelligently. Measure the progress to take a corrective action and accelerate the pace of ideas to implementation. Make business fun to make people excited about what they are doing, working as a team, and tackling new challenges.

Top Barriers to Innovation Success Source: a survey of 200 U.S. companies by Kuczmarski & Associates Predominance of a risk-averse culture Lack of metrics relating to return on innovation investment Lack of innovation strategy / new product strategy. (Managing a product list instead of a cohesive strategy) Insufficient human resources Poor communication between levels of management and across functions, which interfered with setting clear expectations. Understanding the Innovation System – Unlocking the Black Box Adapted from Relentless Growth , Christopher Meyer The Innovation System model synthesizes and defines the core elements of innovation, their behavior and interaction. The power of this good model makes it easier to understand complex issues and dynamics of innovation, separate its elements and examine them is greater depth. It establishes a framework that helps you to demystify the innovation process and its driving forces, to reveal the unique innovation practices of market champions and understand what makes them so successful and unique. The Six Core Elements of the Innovation System Leadership & Management – provides inspiration, makes key choices, and organizes the development process. Strategic Alignment – links innovation strategy with corporate goals, strategy, and objectives. Innovation Process – defines who does what, when, and how. Organization & People – channel resources, define norms, provide infrastructure, drive innovation. Metrics – provide the guidance and control system for innovation. Corporate Culture – determines how the above elements behave and interact with each other.

Cultural Change – a Sustained Effort A corporate culture generally represents the norms, assumptions, shared values, and artifacts within a firm. Establishing the culture of innovation requires a broad and sustained effort. Though changing a company's culture is never easy, with the right leadership, cultures can be reshaped and amazing results can accrue. Establishing an attitude of relentless growth is what enables an organization and its people to achieve their goals. The spirit of relentless growth keeps fresh ideas flowing and reinvigorates your company. Thus, "the primary challenge facing market leaders is to institutionalize an environment where every decision and direction can be constantly and safely reassessed," write Jason Jennings and Laurence Haughton in their book It's Not the Big that Eat the Small... It's the Fast that Eat the Slow . Case in Point: Silicon Valley Firms Silicon Valley firms have flat and participative management structures. In a meeting rooms at most Silicon Valley companies, the mix of people, expertise, and ages is striking. More importantly, the degree of candor is tremendous. You don't expect to find such level of frankness in hierarchical companies. In more direct cultures, such as Intel or Sun Microsystems, you can witness easily an intense argument between a senior executive and an entry-level engineer. Status and seniority aren't based on age or position; they're based on what you know and can deliver. Do You Want To Change the Culture? Be specific: What would you change and why? What would it take to do that? How long would it require? Could you be successful, or are you “caught in some tragic loop where because of your culture discourages innovation, the culture itself cannot be changed,” as warns Christopher Meyer?

Recommendations to Top Executives Source: How To Kill a Team's Creativity , Sethi R., Smith D. and Park W., Harvard Business Review Keep the team small. Increased functional diversity of the teams does not necessarily increase innovation. Social cohesion between the members of a team can suppress the exchange of views, since cohesive groups focus on maintaining relationships and seeking concurrence. Cut back on number of functional areas represented on the team, so as help the team crystallize its identity. Invite outsiders. Sprinkle the group with some outsiders so as to lower the social cohesion that can inhibit creativity. Monitor closely. A too hands-off approach to a team is not effective. Close monitoring of the team stresses the corporate importance of the project and motivates team members. Communicate expectations. Expectations of innovation are key. Make it clear that the team is expected to undertake experimentation and risk taking, rather than incremental improvement of current products and processes. Case in Point: Harley-Davidson Management at Harley-Davidson has been recognized worldwide for its successful use of progressive, cutting-edge management techniques. One specific area in which Harley-Davidson's management has received acclaim is its use of cross-functional teams to design new products. Management of the company has underscored its commitment to cross-functional teams for designing new products by opening a new Product Development Center (PDC) near its plant in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. For years the motorcycle maker has been consistently moving toward more emphasis on using cross-functional teams for new product development. The PDC accelerated this move by locating design engineers, purchasers, manufacturing personnel, and other crucial players in a single building. These team members work together daily and are totally dedicated to the new product development process on a full-time basis.

Finding the Right Balance Between Structure and Chaos If you wish to establish an effective creative chaos environment, you must find a delicate balance between chaos and a guiding structure. You need a certain amount of chaos to be creative but not to the point that you feel overwhelmed by its amount. Too much uncertainty discourages people from mobilizing their best effort. Direction and purpose and a certain amount of structure create freedom. People feel liberated by goals and guidelines. Successful organizations must balance structure and bureaucratic processes at one extreme with the fluid creative chaos of relationships, interests and transactions, which enable it to be innovative and alive, at the other. Case in Point: Unilever Unilever used a designer to shake up the status quo: one division had to turn the employees' eating area into an outdoor-picnic environment. The experiment was designed to encourage workers to think out of the box. Case in Point: Google "The company's goal is to determine precisely the amount of management it needs – and then use a little bit less," says Shona Brown, Google's senior vice president for business operations and the author of the book called Competing on the Edge: Strategy as Structured Chaos. "The way to succeed in "fast-paced, ambiguous situations," is to avoid creating too much structure, but not to add too little either. In other words, just make it not too hot and not too cold, and you're done. If I ever come into the office and I feel comfortable, if I don't feel a little nervous about some crazy stuff going on, then we've taken it too far," she says. Case in Point: IDEO IDEO is a most celebrated design firm in the world. David Kelley, the founder of IDEO, created an environment in which his workers are their own bosses and free to think creatively and have fun. Just a bit of structure is installed. There is a position called the project leader. A project leader, however, doesn't take on much of a managerial role. In fact, it isn't even a permanent title. Employees who serve as project leader on one project often serve under another for a different project. The position rotates based upon availability and skills related to the project. Another feature of IDEO's structure, or lack thereof, is that employees can change positions at will. As the company continues on its path of innovation, Kelley says that the non-structure of the company will remain intact. "I believe that the breaking down into the studios has kept the culture we enjoy while we keep growing," he says. But he also believes that this chaos-focused culture will limit growth to a point somewhere down the road.

Leading Innovation: Loose-Tight Leadership Model Loose-tight leadership approach fosters autonomy and creativity (loose) within a systematic framework that stipulates clear, non-discretionary priorities and parameters (tight). Applied to innovation project management practices, loose-tight leadership refers to having very tight expectations for projects, and communicating them to the staff; being loose enough to let staffers, within established standards, use their own initiative to get the job done; and then tight again to make sure expectations are met. Innovation Process: Diversion and Conversion of Ideas The process of innovation is a rhythm of search and selection, exploration and synthesis, cycles of divergent thinking followed by convergence. Divergence, or creative synthesis, is the interlocking of previously unrelated skills, or matrices of thought. The creation of such intellectual ferment is important to innovation – the more options offered, the more likely that an out-of-the-box perspective will be available for selection. Just hearing a very different perspective challenges the mindset of others sufficiently that they will search beyond what initially appears to be an obvious solution. This is a reason that intellectually heterogeneous cross-functional teams are more innovative than homogenous functional ones. As soon as a sufficient choice of innovative ideas has been generated, a solution – convergence upon acceptable action – needs to be defined and agreed upon. Why Idea Management? Idea management systems and process can help your company make innovation a discipline. They can help make the hunt for new possibilities each and every department's business, as well as involve broader and more enthusiastic participation among managers and employees. Disciplined and well managed creativity breeds successful idea generation. Corporations have limited resources, funds, and time to give creative dreamers free reign to magically produce new ideas, however. Most companies are not short on new ideas, but they are short on ways to assess, screen, prioritize, and execute those new ideas. Motivating Radical Idea Generation Strategic intent – a misfit between current status and corporate aspirations – is senior management's primary motivational tool for idea generation. To inhibit or expand the search for radical ideas, senior management must articulate strategic intent. Various mechanisms such as a general call for growth, to counter competitive pressures, or to improve the financial performance of the enterprise can be used for this purpose.

A Big Element of Your Business Strategy As business today is about passion and winning and creating new things, fun has become a big element in the business strategy of many highly successful businesses. No one should have a job they don't enjoy. "If you don't wake up energized and excited about tackling a new set of challenges, then you might be in the wrong job,“ says Jack Welch Making Your Customers Laugh Why would people want buy from you if they don't enjoy doing so? Making what you have to sell fun to buy is simply taking the whole process one step further. "If you can make your customers laugh, and excite them with your vision of what life can be, they are not going to walk into your outlets, but run into them. Running a successful business should be fun for you, and there's every reason why you should be able to communicate that sense of fun to your customers. Certainly, if you aren't having fun, you probably aren't running a successful business.“ (James Essinger & Helen Wylie) Case in Point: Michael Dell In 1999, Michael Dell, the Founder of Dell Computer Corporation was speaking to an entrepreneurship class at his alma mater, the University of Texas, when a student asked why the multibillionaire continued to work. “You’ve got so much money,” the bold young student declared. “Why don’t you just sell out, buy a boat, and sail off to the Caribbean?” Dell’s answer said it all: “Sailing’s boring. Do you have any idea how much fun it is to run a billion-dollar company?” Case in Point: Oxygen Learning – Making Learning Fun Oxygen Learning's mission is to challenge, motivate and empower individuals within organizations to achieve increased performance and improved quality of life by delivering programs and events that make learning fun. "Who stole the fun out of learning?" they ask, and invite you to make a difference in the quality of your life and your business performance by experiencing some of their unique programs and events that make learning fun. You'll laugh, you'll enjoy, you'll make a difference… What you learn, and how you learn it, will never be the same again!

Balanced Innovation Portfolio The innovation portfolio provides visibility that allows your firm pace the introduction of new products and services. You should balance the introduction of revolutionary products with incremental improvements in others so as to maintain a steady flow. Overall balance of the product mix must be achieved: short term versus long term; cost reduction versus new-product development; incremental versus radical innovation. Managing the Flow of Ideas The ideas should flow from your strategic intent. The process of innovation is a rhythm of search and selection, exploration and synthesis, cycles of divergent thinking followed by convergent thinking. During the new idea generation – divergent or lateral thinking – phase, people create a wealth of possible solutions to a problem. In a well-managed development process, where a group of diverse individuals addresses a common challenge, varying perspectives foster creative abrasion, intellectual conflict between diverse viewpoints producing energy that is channeled into new ideas. Brainstorming gathers together a set of experts with diverse skills, preferably including clients. As soon as a sufficient choice of innovative ideas has been generated, a solution – convergence upon acceptable action – needs to be defined and agreed upon. Experimental Approach to Venture Management The entrepreneurial team should treat the new venture as a series of experiments. Before launching the whole show, launch a little piece of it. Convene a focus group to test the product, build a prototype and watch it perform, conduct a regional or local rollout of a service. Such an exercise reveals the true economics of the business and can help enormously in determining how much money the new venture actually requires and in what stages. Experiments, of course, can feel expensive and risky. But they prevent disasters and help create successes. Testing an Experimental Business Model When pursuing entirely new business models, no amount of research can resolve the critical unknowns. All that strategy can do is give you a plausible starting point. From there, you must experiment, learn, and adapt.

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JAZZ of INNOVATION MANAGEMENT (Inspirational Micro-course) - Presentation Transcript

Inspirational micro-course (10 slides) by Vadim Kotelnikov Founder Inspirational Business e-Coach We don’t teach, we inspire! 1000ventures InsBeCo 1000advices success360 fun4biz The Jazz of Innovation Improvisation within a Guiding Structure
Inspirational Business e-Coach The World’s #1 Source of Inspiration and Innovation! Enterprises: 3M, ABB, Adidas, Alcatel, Bayer, Boeing, BAT, BP, Canon, Cisco, Corning, GE, HP, Hitachi, Hyundai, IBM, Intel, J&J, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Oracle, Philips, Samsung, Shell, Siemens, Sony Banks: Citicorp, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Standard Chartered Consultants: Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, McKinsey Customers in 100+ countries Customer segments Enterprises – 43% Consultants – 25% Individuals – 16% Universities – 12% Government – 4% North America 51% Europe 2 1 % Asia-Pacific 2 0 % Africa 5 % South America 3 % Different industry leaders choose InsBeCo Welcome to the world of inspirational micro-courses! We help new business champions grow! InsBeCo
The Jazz of Innovation Creative Chaos & Improvisation Within a Guiding Structure Market introduction © Vadim Kotelnikov Weak creative chaos × Strong guiding structure Strong creative chaos × Weak guiding structure Innovation Time Concept development Implementation "Without order nothing can exist – without chaos nothing can evolve." Strong creative chaos × Strong guiding structure Continuous Innovation & Top-line Success “ CONVEYOR” Scenario “ DREAMS” Scenario “ JAZZ” Scenario More information at 1000ventures.com: “ Innovation Jazz ”
Innovation Jazz Key Components
- GUIDING STRUCTURE
- Innovation Strategies
- Innovation System
- IMPROVISATION
- Leading Innovation
- Entrepreneurial Creativity
© Vadim Kotelnikov More information at 1000ventures.com: “ Innovation Jazz ”
The Jazz of Innovation 11 Practice Tips © Vadim Kotelnikov
- Provide strategic alignment
- Define the innovation process publicly
- Build cross-functional expertise
- Establish a creative chaos environment
- Challenge assumptions
- Cross-pollinate
- Reward idea generation
- Experiment
- Allow freedom to fail
- Measure the progress
- Make business fun
More information at 1000ventures.com: “ Innovation Jazz ”
Corporate Innovation System 5+1 Core Elements Adapted from: "Relentless Growth", Christopher Meyer Process Leadership & Management Strategic Alignment Organization & People Metrics CULTURE More information at 1000ventures.com: “ Innovation System ”
Creating Culture for Innovation Five Strategies More information at 1000ventures.com: “ Culture for Innovation ” © Vadim Kotelnikov Reward Empower Synergize Organize Inspire Set rules; create a system, guiding structures, and processes supporting innovation and idea management 2 Provide an inspiring vision; lead innovation; emphasize opportunities, not problems; trust your people 1 Measure progress; reward both individual and collective contributions; celebrate success, make business fun 5 Create a culture of questioning; encourage risk taking; give your people freedom to experiment, fail, and restart 4 Leverage diversity; facilitate cross-pollination of ideas; create and empower cross-functional teams 3
New Product Development Engaging Cross-Functional Teams Firms which are successful in realizing the full returns from their technologies and innovations are able to match their technological developments with complementary expertise in other areas of their business, such as manufacturing, finance, distribution, human resources, marketing, and customer relationships. InsBeCo
- Keep the team small to stimulate discussion and exchange of views
- Create professionally and culturally diverse teams to ensure the presence of multiple perspectives
- Invite outsiders to share their fresh ideas and outside-the-box views
- Encourage experimentation and risk taking and communicate it clearly to the team members
- Emphasize the importance of the project to motivate team members
New Product Development by Cross-Functional Teams Recommendations to Corporate Leaders
Creative Chaos Environment Find the Right Balance Between Structure and Order © Vadim Kotelnikov More information at 1000ventures.com: “ Winning Organization ” "New ideas are not born in a conforming environment." – Roger von Oech "Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating." – Carl Von Clausewitz Structure Creative Chaos within a Guiding Structure If you wish to establish an effective creative chaos environment, you must find a delicate balance between chaos and a guiding structure. Chaos
Managing Radical Innovation Projects Loose-Tight Leadership
- Loose-tight leadership alternates:
- the creation of space for idea generation and free exploration with
- a deliberate tightening that selects and tests specific ideas for further investment and development
Ideas Profitable Innovation Divergent Thinking (Loose Leadership) Convergent Thinking (Tight Leadership) InsBeCo
The Fun Factor A Big Element of Your Business Strategy "What's really driving the new economy – and confounding the grand pooh-bahs of the old one – is that individuals are having a huge impact. And an awful lot of fun." – Edward O. Welles Case in Point: Silicon Valley “ Do you really want to know what is deep inside, at the core of Silicon Valley and what makes is tick? The truth is ... it's a ball! Hard work combined with hard play – at every level, from executive down and back up again." (Christopher Meyer) People don't only work hard, but also have a lot of fun at the same time. And they are not just having fun, but planning it and making it part of their culture. This is the spirit that truly enables relentless innovation and creates innovation-adept culture. More information at 1000ventures.com : “ The Fun Factor ” Best practices
The Tao of Innovation Jazz Balancing Adaptation and Improvisation © Vadim Kotelnikov More information at 1000ventures.com: “ Innovation Jazz ” Challenging assumptions Alignment and adaptation Innovation Mindset Starting more intelligently Allowing freedom to fail Dealing with Failure Tight leadership Loose leadership Idea Management Pursuing; experimenting Opening mind; anticipating Opportunities Discovering; synergizing Learning; cross-pollinating Teamwork Exceeding expectations Meeting expectations Value Innovation Divergent thinking Convergent thinking Brainstorming Improvisation Following guidelines Innovation Process Revolution Evolution Innovation Strategy Yang Active, aggressive side Yin Passive, accepting side
The Jazz of Innovation Inspirational Micro-course 1000ventures InsBeCo 1000advices success360 fun4biz InsBeCo Thank You! Vadim Kotelnikov We don’t teach, we inspire! Would you like to discover more? Click here!