Leadership: how innovative are you?

Published: 2011-05-23   There are 4 comments ... please add yours below

According to The Economist magazine “Business writers have always worshipped at the altar of success” ... and ... “This success-fetish makes the latest management fashion all the more remarkable. The April issue of the Harvard Business Review is devoted to failure.” Well, what does that mean for you and me as leaders? Are you noted for fostering new ways - and risking failure? Do you innovate personally – including in how you lead? Here are 10 action suggestions, I’ve put together from reading The Economist report.

1. Think laterally: driving outside the square, beyond the line of old assumptions. What did you most recently change in the way you work? If successful, did you share this with others? Are you open to failure as well as success? Or, prefer the comfort of known territory? If so, it’s time to change!
2. Evaluate optimistically: try to see the far hills, not just the immediate potholes. If people don’t come to you to test their embryonic ideas, there’s a fair chance you’re a glass half-empty guy. Loosen up!
3. Initiate enthusiastically: don’t say “yes” and then allocate resources grudgingly. Why deflate people before they start? If it’s “no”, say so. If it’s “yes”, then embrace that energetically.
4. Market-test early: before you’ve spent too much and people worry about disappointing you. How many mock-ups did you show last time? Were you just seeking confirmation or real feedback?
5. Push courageously: so everyone knows you’re keen for success and willing to challenge the gravity that holds down new ideas. How enthusiastically are you pushing your current initiatives?
6. Review often: don’t let new projects go too long without progress checks. When did you last meet with your team on your most innovative project? Was that soon enough? When’s the next meeting?
7. Adapt frequently: the first model is seldom the right one. Be willing to adjust and, if necessary, change your assumptions – several times. Do you have the resilience? It’s a long winding road.
8. Help consistently: don’t become an absentee parent. If you want things to succeed (whether your own or your team’s) show you care and are willing to help. How are you doing this?
9. Reinvest rapidly: don’t starve yourself or others into failure. Are you really making it possible for that new design to succeed – or subconsciously killing it? What would others say?
10. Close-out happily: none of us like to bury a project we’ve championed financially or emotionally. But, sometimes you must. Even 80% of the time! As any scientist or venture capitalist will tell you (and I know from personal experience), one success in ten can be OK; two is great; and, three amazing. And remember: failures come in sooner than successes. So, there’s often a terrifying cashflow (and emotional) trough between your optimistic first step and your eventual success.

In the ten suggestions above, much of the weight is carried by the adverbs: the “laterally”, “optimistically” and so on. Why? Because a big part of innovation and renewal is in your attitude and emotion. Being willing to push forward – making your old skills and positioning obsolete. Risking the new rather than replaying the old. It’s not for the faint-hearted. But, it’s the core of both renewal and enduring success.

My ten actions aim for success yet without ignoring failure. But, as we know (from sport and other activities), obsessive attempts to avoid something can actually bring it on. So, calculate the risks but don’t fixate. Being willing to fail is a pre-condition for both competing and succeeding. And, if you fail, do so with pride in both what you attempted and what you learnt. Then get up fast and go again – with a smile!

Dr. Timothy Pascoe AM
PhD (Cambridge), MBA (Harvard), BE & BEc (Adelaide)
Creator, V|E|C|T|O|R Leadership^®