A recent HBR article (“Innovation in turbulent times”, June 2009: http://tinyurl.com/mmpgfg) discussed the need for businesses to have creative, “right brain” types in leadership positions. It suggests that innovation is the result of pairing creative with analytical thinkers - when businesses have too few creative thinkers in leadership positions, innovation is vulnerable to unwise cost cutting, in particular during hard times.
Whilst there is some truth in the need to have a good mix of “left and right brain” thinkers, that is nothing new – diversity of thought is vital to establish the strong funnel of ideas from which to promote those with the most promise. Where the article falls short is in the lack of structure it places around the innovation process as a whole. In fact, it starts with the statement “innovation is a messy process – hard to measure and hard to manage”.
Innovation doesn't have to be messy, and it should certainly not be left to the effective partnership between two individuals in leadership positions. When managed effectively innovation is simply another business process, taking ideas through prioritisation and realisation in a way that meets the organisation’s strategic objectives and takes account of the innovation culture.
For additional information on frameworks and tools to help deliver and measure innovation in your organisation please contact us.
Transforming Organisations
iProCon Insight - Latest Thinking
Innovation is more than a leadership team
iProCon Ltd. - Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Simple tools to define and deliver your vision
iProCon Ltd. - Monday, June 08, 2009
Many senior management teams have a clear idea of what they want their organisation or project to achieve, but have difficulty in distilling the often complex plans into a clear message for all staff. In tandem with this challenge is the need to overcome organisational inertia to bring about change and deliver your desired vision.
This paper focuses on two simple tools that can be used to address the above challenges. The first, the identification of Critical Success Factors, is a relatively simple way of articulating what must be performed well in order to achieve your vision or strategic objectives. The second, the Force Field Analysis, is used to identify the forces that drive and restrain the achievement of an objective, making it easier to identify the next steps that will deliver maximum benefit.
Click here to read about simple tools to define and deliver your organisation or project's vision.
This paper focuses on two simple tools that can be used to address the above challenges. The first, the identification of Critical Success Factors, is a relatively simple way of articulating what must be performed well in order to achieve your vision or strategic objectives. The second, the Force Field Analysis, is used to identify the forces that drive and restrain the achievement of an objective, making it easier to identify the next steps that will deliver maximum benefit.
Click here to read about simple tools to define and deliver your organisation or project's vision.
HR-Strategy and the Black Swan
iProCon Ltd. - Thursday, June 04, 2009
How the Right Management of Human Capital Creates Value in Times of Uncertainty
In his book “The Black Swan” Nassim Nicholas Taleb has shown that the world is driven primarily by the big unexpected changes rather than the small ones you find considered in your business forecast scenarios. To put the book into a nutshell, we could say: “Expect the Unexpected, which is almost always Underestimated in its Impact!”.
Why is all this relevant for Human Capital Management?
Well, apart from the fact that risk management teams often operate in the way criticised by Taleb, one single team cannot transform an organisation into one that has the best chances to excel under uncertainty. Getting your business Black-Swan-Ready constitutes a fully-grown business transformation requiring different skills, different people, new ways to manage and reward people, different KPIs, … you name it. Above all, it requires a cultural transformation, because, as we have seen above, there are mindsets that need to be changed. This all sounds to me as if a change in Human Capital Management definitely needs to be a strong driver here, whether led by an HR department or not.
This article shows, how the Management of Human Capital can drive the execution of a Black Swan ready business strategy. Click here to read “HR-Strategy and the Black Swan”.
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