Principled Innovation LLC

Innovation leaders and teams

June 14th, 2006

In less than an hour, I’ll be conducting the second PI Skypecast and, as I wrote below, today’s focus will be on the role of individuals and teams in making innovation happen. Prior to the call, I would like to share a few thoughts, using the six contexts of innovation as a framework:

• Strategic–I recently posted on the importance of growth traits for association executives. I cannot emphasize enough how important the focus on growth is for association executives today and going forward. Most of the critical challenges that concern association CEOs and senior executives, such as retaining current members, recruiting new members or building new and sustainable revenue streams, are challenges of growth rather than productivity. I believe the five growth traits from G.E. mentioned in my June 4 post are critical elements of innovation leadership, but for associations they do go far enough. To compliment and extend each of these five attributes, we need: 1) market orientation, 2) strategic mindset, 3) breakthrough creativity, 4) commitment to open collaboration and 5) learning beyond the domain. When leaders possess these capabilities, they are more likely to ensure they are represented on all ad hoc and intact teams working across the organization.
• Technological–Web 2.0 tools have become a platform from which associations can innovate collaboratively and inexpensively. Although association leaders often have a preference for making in-person connections, it is essential that they become more comfortable with using social media technologies to support the engagement of key stakeholders at a distance. Teams certainly will be able to accelerate their innovation efforts when capitalizing on social media.
• Cultural–There are multiple cultural layers that shape an individual’s attitudes toward innovation, beyond their own pre-conceived notions about it. Of course, the culture within the association’s headquarters is an issue, as is the culture of scarcity and constraint that exists more broadly in the association community. Members have their own culture, which will be very similar to the culture of the industry, profession or field the association serves, but not exactly the same. Innovators must take the time to clarify their thinking about innovation, and separate out their own views from the conventional wisdom that is operative within the organization.
• Intellectual–The intellectual context of innovation isn’t simply about an openness to ideas, but about the degree to which intellect and its attributes are valued within the organization. Innovators are curious about many things, eager to learn about them and willing to think creatively and experiment in order to do that. The intellectual dimension is often a major challenge in teams because a commitment to diversity can lead some members to push back on the intellectual aspects of innovation in favor of taking action. It is not an either/or choice. Indeed, the intellectual context cannot be divorced from the other contexts, and when taken together they enable action.
• Financial–Innovators recognize innovation not as an expense but as an investment. This doesn’t mean that the organization should not seek to minimize risk, i.e. uncertainty multiplied by financial exposure. Rather, innovators will look at the total dollar investments made in innovation activities and try to identify ways to leverage them even before their full financial implications are understood.  Innovators understand that investments in high impact learning can be just as substantial in the long run as actual dollar returns.
• Leadership–Innovation leadership is a shared responsibility, rather than a singular one.  Everyone has a role to play in the work of innovation, and so individual contributors and teams must model this way of thinking and acting.  The ambiguity, complexity and uncertainty of innovation makes the capacity to create distributed and distributive systems so much more important.

More at 2 pm.  I hope you will join me!

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Entry Filed under: Principled Innovation Blog, What's New?, Social Media, Innovation, Associations, Extreme Makeover, The Association Innovator, Skypecasts