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A decade’s worth of surveys on innovation highlight a significant gap between what leaders say they want and what their organizations deliver. Over eighty percent of leaders surveyed believe innovation is important for their future success, but less than thirty percent are satisfied with their current level of innovation. So why, despite all the talking, have leaders in public and private sector organizations not given innovation the attention it requires? The short answer is that they have not had sustainable solutions, practical and reliable programs that deliver long-term, sustainable results. Instead, they have had an endless array of partial answers. They are left with an alarming innovation gap.
Our research in Innovative Intelligence: The Art and Practice of Leading Sustainable Innovation in Your Organization (John Wiley & Sons, 2011), explains the core principles that are essential in overcoming the innovation gap. The following story illustrates what happens in many organizations, and it provides an example for describing three of the core principles.
An executive asks a key talent leader to work on a project that requires innovation. The executive tells the leader that he wants “out of the box” thinking and real innovative solutions. The leader asks the question, “Do you mean that any idea is a good idea? Are there any ideas that are unacceptable?” The executive replies: “We want all of your ideas for new and innovative ways of thinking about this problem. There are no limits.”
The leader thinks this is the career opportunity he has been waiting for so he takes a week off to work on the project independently. His ideas are based on the executive's assurance that there are no limits on innovation. He comes to the executive meeting to present his recommendations. During the presentation, he describes many innovative ideas, including some that could be implemented immediately and others that require significant financial investment over the next three years, a restructuring of the organization to support the innovative ideas, and a significant change in the organization's technology infrastructure.
During the presentation the executives listen attentively without comment. The leader thinks, “They are really listening; they must love my ideas.” As he completes his presentation, the executive who delegated the project slowly puts down his pen and says, “What were you thinking? Do you really believe we are going to change our overall strategy and restructure the organization for one innovation project? Do you think we are going to invest that level of resources into the ideas you are suggesting? Where is your professional judgment?”
The leader walks out of the room dejected and disengaged. He feels betrayed by the executive and believes he was treated unfairly. Within one year the organization does not implement any initiatives associated with that innovation challenge, and the key talent leader leaves the organization to join a competitor.
What went wrong in this story? As with all situations, the fault does not lie with just one individual. Everybody contributed to the problem. We can derive several core principles from the story that are essential to discover sustainable solutions to overcome the innovation gap.
Principle #1: Innovation Works Best Within Precise Boundaries
The executive who delegated the project said that he wanted “out of the box thinking.” However, when it came to the presentation, clearly the executive knew what the limits were in advance. The organization was not prepared to restructure, not prepared for a three-year financial investment, and not prepared to change its overall technology infrastructure to support the innovation.
Boundaries need to be defined precisely for innovation. In the story, the lack of precise boundaries forced the leader to guess what the boundaries were. He did the right thing when he asked if there were any limits, but the executive’s answer was not truthful. There were limits. The executive did not want to share them, perhaps based on a false belief that any limits would constrain innovative solutions. In the absence of precise boundaries, leaders have two options. One option is to take the executive at his or her word and present all the possible ideas. However, the outcome is often exactly as described in our story where the leader went beyond the implicit limits and, as a result, was seen as unprofessional. The alternative option is that leaders play it safe and ensure that they do not go beyond the implicit boundaries. This approach reduces the area within which innovation can be explored, and the solutions are often inadequate. The correct approach is that the executive articulates the boundaries precisely. Then, within those precise boundaries, the leader should exercise unlimited creativity. In the event that the precise boundaries are not clear to anyone at the outset of the project, the leader should get confirmation from the executive of the limits of possible solutions as the project evolves.
Principle #2: Innovation Works Best With Diverse Teams
In the story, the leader chose to develop the innovative recommendations independently. He saw this assignment as a career opportunity to show that he was an innovative leader. However, by working alone he had only his ideas to consider. He did not solicit other viewpoints to stimulate alternative ideas, and he did not collaborate with others to explore risks. Had he worked with a diverse team, they would have generated insights from their various perspectives and contributed to solutions that would have perhaps been much more acceptable. In addition, if the team included diverse members with different perspectives, the viewpoints would have been helpful to gain insight about the issue and to define the problem more precisely. Also, the combination of ideas from the diverse team members would have been useful in the process of discovering alternative solutions and generating the best possible recommendations.
Principle #3: Sustainable Innovation Needs Leaders of Innovation Rather Than Innovative Leaders
Many organizations focus on developing their employees' innovative thinking abilities as the way to overcome the innovation gap. However, most employees have spent their entire lives developing their own approach to thinking, and one training course will not change their ability to be more innovative. Perhaps they will learn several techniques, but in the stress of real work situations, it's very possible that they will revert back to their normal way of thinking, which has given them success up to that point.
The alternative approach is to focus training on how leaders can become leaders of innovation. This means that leaders need to excel at drawing out the innovative capacity of their employees and team, rather than trying to lead by being the most innovative person on the team. They need to create the environment of trust and collaboration that allows all team members and employees to gain insight into issues and discover innovative solutions. Leaders can learn how to be leaders of innovation, and this capability can be taught. When organizations ensure that all their leaders are leaders of innovation, they will have a sustainable approach to overcoming the innovation gap.
This is not to say that innovative leaders who generate a great deal of innovative ideas are unimportant to organizations. The opposite is true. They are great resources, but it is not a sustainable model. When those people leave, it is not easy to replace them. Also, when those leaders work in teams, they often dominate the discussions with their innovative ideas, which reduces the capability of others to contribute their insights and discover new innovative solutions to challenging problems.
In conclusion, the innovation gap is a great challenge to most organizations. Many approaches have led organizations to quick solutions with the hope that this will fix the problem immediately. However, sustainable innovation is built on the three principles identified in this article: Innovation works best within precise boundaries, innovation works best with diverse teams, and sustainable innovation needs leaders of innovation rather than innovative leaders. This approach represents a major shift organizations should take to achieve sustainable innovation and to overcome the innovation gap.
Dr. David S. Weiss is President & CEO of Weiss International Ltd., a firm specializing in innovation, leadership, and HR consulting. Previously Chief Innovation Officer in a multi-national firm, he is a frequent keynote speaker and the coauthor of five books including Innovative Intelligence (Wiley, 2011). For more information visit www.weissinternational.ca.
Business Adviser is published by KPMG Enterprise™ specifically for owners and executives of private companies. KPMG Enterprise is a network of professionals devoted exclusively to helping business owners and entrepreneurs build value and grow thriving enterprises. kpmg.ca/enterprise.
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