Strategy-Driven Innovation(sm)

Innovation arises from creativity. Creativity is shaped by individual's engagement. Engagement and commitment to one's work is directly linked to clarity of Personal Values and the Organizational Values of an institution one works for. Personal Values are molded based one's Spiritual Integrity (alignment of thoughts, words, and actions). Spiritual Integrity is the expression of one's deep self-awareness of their inherent Human Values within. Human Values are the same in all human beings. One's ability to unearth the Human Values distinguishes one's moral compass vs. that of another - sometime called Character.

Therefore, if an organization wants to create a climate and culture innovation, best possible lasting solution is to help every employee and leader become more self-aware of who they are and what their personal values are. And I don't mean definition of personal values but the expression of those values; i.e. how do those values show up in their work? Their projects? Their email communications, etc.? This will allow everyone to 'tap into' the inner source where ideas to grow the business are sitting dormant.

Great Innovation Leaders figured this out long time ago - i.e. innovation arises from one's (or team's)deep passion for something much bigger then themselves.

-Jatin

One of my favorite authors on the subject of innovation...legendary Peter F. Drucker:

"There are innovators who are 'kissed by the Muses,' and whose innovations are the result of a 'flash of genius' rather than of hard, organized, purposeful work. But such innovations cannot be replicated. They cannot be taught and they cannot be learned. ..."

"But also, contrary to popular belief in the romance of invention and innovation, 'flashes of genius' are uncommonly rare. What is worse, I know of not one such 'flash of genius' that turned into an innovation. They all remained brilliant ideas.

"The purposeful work of innovation resulting from analysis, system, and hard work is all that can be discussed and presented as the practice of innovation. ... And the extraordinary performer in innovation, as in every other area, will be effective only if grounded in the discipline and master of it.

"Purposeful, systematic innovation begins with the analysis of ... the seven sources of opportunity: ... [which are] the organization's own unexpected successes and failures ... incongruities ... process needs ... changes in market structures ... changes in demographics ... changes in meaning and perception ... [and] new knowledge. All sources of innovative opportunity should be systematically analyzed and studied. It is not enough to be alerted to them. ...

"An innovation, to be effective, has to be simple and it has to be focused. It should do only one thing; otherwise it confuses. If it is not simple, it won't work. ... All effective innovations are breathtakingly simple. Indeed, the greatest praise an innovation can receive is for people to say, 'This is obvious. Why didn't I think of it?' "

Peter F. Drucker, The Essential Drucker, Harper, 2001, pp. 273-4.

Innovation + Leadership = Competitive Advantage and Sustainability

The DeSai Group’s latest research suggests that organizations that prioritize innovation as a core competency and develop leaders who possess the characteristics to create a climate conducive for innovation, consistently outperform their competitors in nearly every category including top-line growth and bottom-line profitability. Employees cannot successfully innovate unless their leaders empower them to do so in an environment that values and rewards their contributions.

Behaviors of Innovation Leaders:

Through our work with executives in their respective fields, we have observed that there are certain characteristics and behaviors exhibited by those that could be considered to be “Great Innovation Leaders”.

Research at The DeSai Group has uncovered four of the most critical behaviors that are essential for success as an innovation leader. These are:

• Collaboration: A leader’s ability to work as a true partner with other stakeholders within as well as outside of their organization adds significant value and competitive advantages not often recognized by leaders who remain insular.

• Customer Focused: True innovative leaders always keep a razor sharp perspective on who their customer/s are.  This pertains to the internal as well as the external customer and involves an intuitive understanding of existing as well as anticipated future needs.

• Quick and Effective Decision Making: Great innovation leaders make wise decisions quickly and effectively. This often occurs because they have established strong cross-functional communication channels and are informed about matters that are vital to decision making. 

• Embrace Change: Great leaders understand that continuous change creates significant opportunities for growth and if a leader is unwilling or unable to continually adapt in today’s business environment, it impedes the entire process of innovation.

Finding leaders that possess all of these traits is challenging. Developing these in others can be even more challenging. Some believe these are behaviors that are innate, but there is evidence that they can be cultivated over time. 

Do you agree?

Can they be built?

What would you consider the most important behavior? –

We would love to hear from you – join our community and collaborate on this and other issues…

- Dan
dbrowne@desai.com

China wants be the "plant of the world", while India wants to be the "back office of the world".

If you did not know, China has become the world's top producer of steel, small-sized motors, and home electrical appliances such as toasters, ovens, and refrigerators. How? They have achieved this due to two important factors:

•1) foreign investment in China

•2) high quality of the Chinese workforce

China has also been ‘buying’ up companies just so they can learn and develop global management skills. In 2004 IBM announced they are selling their flagship personal computer business to the Chinese company Lenovo. In December 28, 2004 article, New York Times suggested that part of the reason they bought the IBM business was to acquire the experienced management team that came with the business from IBM.

On November 11, 2003, then the chairman of Toyota and head of Keidan-Ren, the most powerful organization of CEOs in Japan, said to his peers that

“China has become the world’s top producer in many areas...and Japan cannot of compete with China in the production of like products. China has enormous competitive advantage in its quality of workforce. We must clearly understand that competition is not possible in the filed of “commoditized” products.

For India, the exponential growth rate of software export is clearly the most competitive advantage. In 1995 the export was $700Million, it grew to $15Billion in 2004, to $40B in 2008 and is expected to hit $50B in 2009.

This is not the only advantage in India, the second strength is in the manufacturing sector. Level of Quality of Indian industry has been increasing such that 111 Indian companies were TPM Award Winners (www.tpmonline.com) between 1995 and 2006. Similarly 16 Indian companies won the Deming Prize and Japan Quality Medal. In the United States only two companies (Florida Power in 1989 and AT&T Power Systems in 1994) have ever own the Deming Prize. In Taiwan, only one company has (Phillips in 1991).

According to Ex-Indian President, Mr. Kalam India has three types of companies for the world to take advantage of:

•1) companies with an R&D capability to create unique technologies

•2) companies that license technology and do some design

•3) companies that do manufacturing according to a specification given to them

Bottom-Line #1: For every business , the question for companies elsewhere is...What type of breakthrough thinking is required for a business to grow and prosper in the future, knowing that China and India wants to be your plant and the back office?

Bottom-Line #2:For every individual, the question is what type of skills and competencies will be required to stay in the career you are in or prepare for a career that will be in high demand, knowing the new competitive global workforce?

-Jatin

For us at DeSai, the question resembles to "Should we allow a healthy and vibrant living organism to grow?" No doubt, the answer instantly should be YES. A company that ignores innovation is a company that is decaying and dying with slow death.

You might wonder, in light of explicit evidence, why do many of the C-Level executives do not take a more active role is establishing a climate and culture for their organizations to innovate, grow and prosper?

In our work with senior teams and organizations across the globe – the one consistent answer is because they lack the courage and confidence to take risks.

The cause of this "effect” might be that most C-Level decision makers are not strategist, but mere manager. Many people who climb the corporate ladder are just managers not innovators and as long as they are calling the shots, there is a de facto ban on innovation in their respective organizations. Period.

They will not take the role of authentic champions, agents, and advocates of innovation, they are very happy just managing decaying (or stagnant or even dying) operations. To be an innovator the leaders must ask:

1. Are we doing all we can do to generate sustainable growth?
2. Are we providing our clients with the best products or services that we can and the best price points?
3. Are we creating long term value for the organization?
4. Are we challenging our employees to generate breakthroughs and derivative projects?
5. Are the leaders committed and aligned together with strategies and direction?

In today’s climate, innovation cannot be ignored – independent of industries, geographies, or economic climate. Just like breathing in and breathing out – innovation must be the ‘natural rhythm’ of every organization – else the future is well defined – you will land on Commodity Island and ultimately sink.

Do you agree?

-Jatin