| By
Stephen M. Shapiro
Naturally, you want your company to be a leader in the marketplace.
Problem is, there are so many darn followers trying to steal your
thunder! Think about it. It's discouragingly easy for competitors
to copy your products, rip off your business processes, and go after
your customer base. Yes, it seems someone is always nipping at your
heels. So what can your company do that's impossible to copy?
According to Stephen M. Shapiro-author of 24/7 Innovation: A Blueprint
for Surviving and Thriving in an Age of Change-the answer is simple.
Create and nurture a company culture based on innovation. After
all, the company that's forever reinventing itself doesn't hold
still long enough to be copied! Therefore, a culture of innovation
is the best secret weapon you can have.
Shapiro-whose book describes step-by-step how to instill a mindset
of continuous innovation at every level of your company-debunks
the myth that creativity is a trait a few select people are "born
with" . . . that there are those with "creative personalities"
and then there are the rest of us.
"We all have the potential to be innovative," says Shapiro.
"Perhaps not all to the same degree, but we all do have the
ability."
"It's clear," he adds, "that creativity is unlearned
as we grow up. The business world has traditionally favored analytical
thinking over the capacity to innovate, and has seen to it that
business schools produce highly trained young men and women to think
along strict parameters. But times have changed, and now the mission
has to change-to help people unlearn their uncreative habits."
But where to begin? Shapiro says installing a new culture-a process
that must be done carefully and gradually-starts with a single individual,
someone at the top who sees an opportunity for improvement and runs
with it. This stage, called leadership-driven capacity, is the first
in a series of three "waves of change" that the innovative
company undergoes. (The other two waves are structural driven capacity,
in which mechanisms are put in place to enable change, and organic
capacity, in which employees begin seeing innovation as integral
to their jobs.)
What can you, as a leader, do to get the innovation ball rolling?
One key may be Shapiro's "NOW Just Do IT" model. The "N"
in NOW stands for need; a burning platform for change is communicated
and well understood throughout the organization. The "O"
is for opportunity; you have to be in a business that has a chance
of succeeding. And the "W" is for will of senior management;
committed leadership with the "intestinal fortitude" to
see the change through. And you need all three to be successful.
Without the will of senior management, you are left with "NO";
no, don't do it. Without opportunity ("O"), you are left
with "NW"; no way to succeed. And without the need being
understood ("N"), you are left with "OW"; a
painful experience for all within the organization-reminiscent of
what Jack Welch did at GE when he started out. "Just"
stands for "justification"-a business case for change.
"Do," which means you need doers, not talkers. And finally,
"IT" stands for information technology. No change today
stands a chance of making a difference without taking into consideration
the important role of technology.
Shapiro
devotes much of his book to explaining how companies should work
toward becoming an "alliance-based network," which is
a global company with a mix of owned and allied capabilities. This
state is a key driver in creating a flexible, innovative organization.
Shapiro offers the following seven tips, gleaned from his personal
experience over the years:
1. Encourage a culture of tension. An alliance-based
network often results in a highly matrixed organization that focuses
on both capabilities and line responsibilities. At Mölnlycke
Health Care, one of Europe's leading manufacturers and suppliers
of single-use products for surgical interventions and wound management,
capability owners were responsible for identifying improvement opportunities,
while line managers were trying to run the business. This caused
a great deal of tension within the organization. And although tension
is often thought of as undesirable, it was discovered that this
debate and discussion unleashed creativity in the organization.
Issues, and hence opportunities, surfaced much more quickly. The
key is to avoid deadlocks in debates where creativity is stifled
and progress is not made.
2. Educate all employees. Companywide education
is essential before any change program is rolled out, if a company's
capabilities are to be kept running smoothly throughout the turmoil
that such a program inevitably brings about. Most people innately
prefer the status quo unless and until they are given some sound
reason why an alternative is preferable.
3. Use the new orientation to bring managers closer
to customers. Frontline personnel are often quicker to pick up,
and less resistant to the idea of this new way of thinking than
are a company's managers. The closer a company gets to its customers,
the easier it is for them to make the journey. The lesson? Companies
can speed up a sluggish start to their transition by nominating
a few potential champions at the top of the organization and at
successive levels further down. The designated champions can then
be sent out to experience firsthand some of the problems that face
the organization's customers. This results in bottom-up leadership
from those closest to the customers.
4. Buy expertise that you do not already have in-house.
In many cases the idea and the proposed route of the journey is
so strange that organizations do not have the in-house skills that
are needed to make the transition. In such cases, they need to go
out and find help in those areas where they have insufficient expertise-for
example, with the techniques of change management. Most importantly,
outside help can help you surface and challenge assumptions that
may be invisible to the rest of the organization.
5. Communicate clearly, continuously, and repeatedly.
It is scarcely possible to exaggerate the need for information about
the transition to be communicated clearly and regularly throughout
the organization. If in doubt, remember the Rule of 50s. The first
50 times you tell people something, they don't hear you. The second
50 times you tell them the same thing, they don't believe you. Only
during the third 50 times that you tell them do they begin to listen.
6. Build in safeguards that prevent the organization
from taking backward steps. Senior managers who are not close to
their customers can stall a transition that is already well under
way and may even cause it to revert back. This can sometimes occur
because of an unexpected change of leadership. Incoming managers'
allegiance to a traditional structure of fragmented departments
can result in the company regressing to an early stage of maturity.
To minimize the risk from such a changeover, companies should develop
several strong leaders on the team so that there is someone to carry
on the role of champion if (and when) one of the others moves on.
This removes the risk of the whole exercise being at the mercy of
one person's career development.
Also, employing a phased approach can be useful for avoiding setbacks.
Taking on too much change at one time can be a shock to the organization
and can lead to a sort of traumatic inertia.
7. Realize that one size does not fit all. Organizations
should not try to follow any one case study too literally. No two
companies will pass through the transition for the same reasons
or by following the same sequence of events. Not only does one size
not fit all; one size doesn't even fit two.
"Any leader worth his or her salt should be enthusiastic about
creating a culture of innovation," says Shapiro. "After
all, a company with such a culture naturally rises to the top. Once
innovation becomes a way of life for your company, people will want
to work for you. You will begin to attract the best and the brightest.
And before you know it, your company will be a leader-not a follower-in
the marketplace."
|
