Innovative Intelligence E-Book

David S. Weiss

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 437

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

Innovation is a key source of competitive advantage, but it remains frustratingly elusive for many organizations. This book shows you how to close the innovation gap by making individuals and organizations systematically and sustainably innovative. You will learn how to embrace a culture of innovation and make it permeate every level of the organization. You will find a clear road map and practical tools to redefine your workplace's culture, identify and tap into the existing innovative intelligence, and develop leaders who can close the innovation gap for greater business success.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Preface

A DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK INNOVATIVE INTELLIGENCE

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

HOW TO READ THIS BOOK

PART ONE - CLOSING THE INNOVATION GAP

CHAPTER ONE - THE INNOVATION GAP

THE INNOVATION CHALLENGE

WHAT IS INNOVATION?

INNOVATIVE THINKING MAKES INNOVATION HAPPEN

THE EVIDENCE IS IN—WE ARE UNDERACHIEVING

TRY IT ANOTHER WAY

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER TWO - LEADING THROUGH COMPLEXITY

WHY COMPLEX ISSUES ARE SO CHALLENGING

COMPLICATED VS. COMPLEX ISSUES

COMMON MISTAKES

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER THREE - ACCESSING INNOVATIVE INTELLIGENCE

INTELLIGENCE: WHO KNOWS?

LEADERS REQUIRE THREE INTELLIGENCES

LEADERS NEED TO THINK ABOUT THINKING

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER FOUR - ECLIPSE OF INNOVATIVE INTELLIGENCE

ECLIPSE #1: THE SCHOOL SYSTEM MADE ME DO IT

ECLIPSE #2: THE ANALYTICAL INTELLIGENCE PARADOX

ECLIPSE #3: IMPACT OF HIGH NEGATIVE STRESS

CONCLUSION

PART TWO - INNOVATIVE THINKING

CHAPTER FIVE - INNOVATIVE THINKING: AN OVERVIEW

CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE INNOVATIVE THINKING MODEL

KEY SUCCESS FACTORS FOR INNOVATIVE THINKING

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER SIX - STEP 1: FRAMEWORK

UNDERSTANDING FRAMEWORK

THE CONTEXT

THE “HOW TO . . . ?” QUESTION

THE BOUNDARIES

THE TYPE OF SOLUTION

THE OWNER OR DECISION MAKER

THE PROJECT CHARTER

LEVERAGING THE THREE INTELLIGENCES IN THE FRAMEWORK STEP

THE LEADER’S ROLES IN STEP 1: FRAMEWORK

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER SEVEN - STEP 2: ISSUE REDEFINITION

THE FIVE AREAS OF FOCUS IN ISSUE REDEFINITION

LEVERAGING THE THREE INTELLIGENCES IN THE ISSUE REDEFINITION STEP

THE LEADER’S ROLE IN STEP 2: ISSUE REDEFINITION

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER EIGHT - STEP 3: IDEA GENERATION

IDEA GENERATION IS A RIGOROUS PROCESS

STAGE 1: PREPARE THOROUGHLY

STAGE 2: INTRODUCE THE PROCESS

STAGE 3: GENERATE MANY IDEAS THROUGH DIVERGENCE

STAGE 4: DISCOVER MEANINGFUL SOLUTIONS THROUGH CONVERGENCE

WORKING ALONE ON IDEA GENERATION

LEVERAGING THE THREE INTELLIGENCES IN THE IDEA GENERATION STEP

THE LEADER’S ROLE IN STEP 3: IDEA GENERATION

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER NINE - STEP 4: IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING

STAGE 1: CONFIRM THE PREFERRED IDEA

STAGE 2: ENGAGE IN RISK ANALYSIS AND DEVELOP MITIGATING STRATEGIES

STAGE 3: PRESENT THE INNOVATIVE SOLUTION FOR APPROVAL

STAGE 4: ENSURE AN EFFECTIVE HANDOFF TO THE TEAM THAT FOCUSES ON CHANGE IMPLEMENTATION

LEVERAGING THE THREE INTELLIGENCES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING STEP

THE LEADER’S ROLE IN STEP 4: IMPLEMENTATION PLANNING

CONCLUSION

PART THREE - MAKING INNOVATION HAPPEN

CHAPTER TEN - MAKING INNOVATION HAPPEN: AN OVERVIEW

FOUR ESSENTIAL ORGANIZATIONAL ENABLERS TO MAKE INNOVATION HAPPEN

SUSTAINING INNOVATION

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER ELEVEN - LEADING INNOVATION

LEADING SELF

LEADING INNOVATION TEAMS

LEADING INTACT WORK UNITS

LEADING ENTERPRISES FOR INNOVATION

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER TWELVE - CULTURE OF INNOVATION

WHAT IS CULTURE?

HOW A CULTURE CAN SUPPRESS INNOVATION

WHAT IS A CULTURE OF INNOVATION?

HOW AN EXISTING CULTURE CAN BE TRANSFORMED INTO A CULTURE OF INNOVATION

HOW TO DEVELOP A LEADERSHIP CULTURE OF INNOVATION

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES FOR INNOVATION

EXECUTIVE-LEVEL ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES

ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES IN CORE FUNCTIONAL AREAS

ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICES IN SUPPORT FUNCTIONAL AREAS

INNOVATION-SPECIFIC ORGANIZATIONATIONAL PRACTICES

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - THE INNOVATION PLAN

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR AN INNOVATION PLAN

KEY ELEMENTS OF AN EFFECTIVE INNOVATION PLAN

HOW TO DEVELOP THE INNOVATION PLAN AND WHO SHOULD LEAD IT

WHEN SHOULD AN INNOVATION PLAN BE DEVELOPED?

PULLING IT ALL TOGETHER

Index

About the Authors

Copyright © 2011 by Dr. David S.Weiss and Claude Legrand

All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—graphic, electronic or mechanical—without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or information storage and retrieval systems of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright license, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free 1-800-893-5777.

Care has been taken to trace ownership of copyright material contained in this book. The publisher will gladly receive any information that will enable them to rectify any reference or credit line in subsequent editions.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

Weiss, David S. (David Solomon), 1953-

Innovative intelligence : the art and practice of leading sustainable innovation in your organization / David S.Weiss and Claude Legrand.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-470-67767-4

1. Creative ability in business. 2. Organizational change. I. Legrand, Claude P. II. Title.

HD53.W.4’063 C2010-906458-5

Production Credits

Cover design: Joanna Vieira Cover photo: ©iStockphoto.comInterior text design: Mike Chan Typesetter: Thomson Digital Printer: Friesens

John Wiley & Sons Canada, Ltd. 6045 Freemont Blvd. Mississauga, Ontario L5R 4J3

FP

To Norah and Joseph whose innovative intelligence is an inspiration.

—DSW

To Lauren and Sheila with love and thanks.

—CPL

Acknowledgments

Innovative Intelligence had its inception in the similar ideas and experiences of the two authors, who have worked independently for many years. Our careers intersected when we were both teaching at the Schulich Executive Education Centre of York University. We want to thank Harvey Skinner, Dean of the Faculty of Health, York University, for introducing us and encouraging us to work together. After we met, we collaborated on a major innovative thinking development project for the senior leadership of a global pharmaceutical company. We then wrote an article titled “Innovative Team Learning,”1 which gave us the confidence we could co-write effectively. We combined our areas of expertise to write this book, Innovative Intelligence. It has been a great journey together, and we are grateful to each other for the shared insights and collaborative team spirit.

A great deal of the development and refinement of our ideas for the book came from our association with the many clients throughout the world with whom we have worked. One of the joys of strategy, leadership, and innovation consulting is the privilege that comes from working with ambitious, dedicated, and intelligent leaders with the genuine desire to continually take their organizations to higher levels of performance. In particular, we thank our clients who had the confidence in each of us and the courage to champion the development of innovative intelligence, innovative thinking, and leadership capacity within their organizations. It was through their experiences that we gained the insights that helped us validate the ideas in this book. We are grateful to you, our clients, for your ongoing trust, support, and friendship.

We also thank our publisher, editors, and internal support staff, who contributed greatly to this project. A special thank you is extended to Karen Milner and the John Wiley & Sons team for their confidence and support of this project. We thank Mary Jo Beebe for challenging our ideas, her attention to editorial detail, and guidance in refining the thoughts throughout the book. Also, thank you to Sheila Robb for her editorial support and to Susan Beckley for her teamwork throughout this project.

We also would like to thank the people who have been a constant support and inspiration for our individual professional and personal learning.

On a professional level, special thanks to James Marchant for encouraging me to apply innovative thinking and write about it in my first book, Beyond The Walls of Conflict2; to Dr. Carol Beatty and Dr. Dan Ondrack for providing the University platform so that I could teach executive leaders and HR professionals these ideas; and to David Shaw for providing me with the opportunity to work as the Chief Innovation Officer of a multinational human capital consulting firm. On a personal level, my deepest appreciation is extended to my wife, Dr. Nora Gold, who is my inspiration as a writer and my best friend, and to our son, Joseph Weissgold, for his innate gift of innovative intelligence. Finally, to my late mother, Miriam Borenstein Weiss, I am always grateful for your endless support; and to my father, Moshe Weiss, I dedicate this book to you as my model of an inventive, resourceful, and clever thinker.

—David

A special thank you to all the people who, in different ways, shaped my work and my research in innovative thinking. First, to my wise, creative, and tremendously supportive wife, Sheila, who, for over 10 years, urged me to write this book, and to my daughter, Lauren, who has taught me many important things in her first 19 years and who will be a great leader in the future. Both are constant sources of inspiration and intellectual challenge. To Ron Mandel, who introduced me to creativity; to David Hughes, who helped me shape many of the concepts; and to my partner, Rob LaJoie, who after 10 years as a great client has been an even better partner in Ideaction. Finally, to all the friends and clients who challenged me over the years to find the right questions, especially Genevieve Rouille, Chris Stamper, Mehbs Remtulla, and Brian Coupland. Each one inspired a part of my thinking for this book.

—Claude

To all of you, our thanks and love.

David S.Weiss and Claude Legrand Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 2010

Preface

Innovation has emerged as a key source of competitive advantage in today’s knowledge economy—yet it is still quite elusive for many organizations. The evidence is clear that despite decades of effort, most established organizations have not figured out how to innovate systematically. We have not had sustainable solutions—practical and reliable programs that deliver long-term, predictable results. Instead, we have had an endless array of partial answers.

The observation that fueled our pursuit of this problem was the contrast between what so many established leaders were saying about the critical need for innovation and what so few were successfully doing. Most CEOs, government leaders, and consultants recognize the importance of innovation; and yet, innovation is still the exception, not the norm. Our question then is: Why is innovation not happening systematically when leaders demand it?

We have found that too many organizations try to improve innovation by focusing on one element at a time, particularly in the area of new products and services. They train individuals, hire more creative people, or create specialized innovation departments. Despite these investments, most organizations have disappointing results. They are left with an alarming innovation gap.

Innovative Intelligence responds to the question: How can we make individuals and organizations systematically and sustainably innovative?

We use a three-part approach as follows:

• Part Onedefines the root causes of the innovation gap and the role played by all individuals in an organization, including its leaders. We argue that many employees learned one thinking process in school; one that only accesses their analytical intelligence, which is based upon past knowledge and experiences. They did not learn a process or a set of techniques to access their innovative intelligence, which would help them to deal with the new ambiguities of work. This means that the majority of leaders and teams have no practical and reliable process to think innovatively when they are asked to do it. Only when leaders and employees can apply innovative thinking to access their innovative intelligence will organizations be able to systematically innovate.

• Part Two makes the case for focusing on leaders as the key lever to close the innovation gap. Most leaders have been trained and rewarded for thinking in a linear, non-innovative manner. Many leaders view it as their role to be the person who knows the answers to problems and can guide or tell employees what to do. However, the kinds of problems that leaders face in the knowledge economy are increasingly complex and often cannot be solved only with past experience or knowledge. Leaders need to focus more on understanding the depth of the question rather than on trying to have all the answers. Their new added value is to facilitate innovative thinking processes that uncover the questions and assumptions so that the leaders and employees understand the depth of the issues they are facing. Only then can leaders start exploring and discovering what could be potential innovative solutions to today’s new complexities. This book presents the practical approaches that will enable leaders to become highly skilled in innovative thinking as well as to help others think more innovatively.

• Part Threeclarifies that innovative thinking is not sufficient to close the innovation gap in organizations. The organizational practices and the culture have to make innovative thinking easier. In most organizations, however, the practices and culture make innovative thinking more difficult and can actually block leaders’ and employees’ access to their innovative intelligence. This book defines the changes required to develop a culture where innovating is the norm, and it presents the practical techniques to build organizational practices that make innovating easier. We also explain how to develop an organization-wide innovation plan that can help leaders and executives focus on the important innovations that are needed to close the innovation gap.

Some of the specific characteristics of Innovative Intelligence that distinguish it from other works are:

• It identifies that a primary way to close the innovation gap is to enhance the ability of leaders to resolve complex problems and to make their teams more innovative.

• It explains how leaders need to have access to multiple intelligences in addition to their current IQ-based analytical intelligence. Specifically, leaders need to have access to their innovative intelligence, emotional intelligence, and analytical intelligence to succeed.

• It emphasizes that a primary role of leaders in the knowledge economy is to enable their employees to access their innovative intelligence and to achieve business success by applying innovative thinking.

• It introduces a four-step innovative thinking process with tools and templates as a practical guide for leaders and organizations.

• It describes the preferred culture to support innovating and the organizational practices needed to make innovating easier. It also identifies the cultural and organizational barriers that might prevent an organization from successfully developing their leaders’ innovative thinking capabilities and how to overcome these barriers.

• It reinforces the executive accountability to build and sustain innovative thinking in organizations.

• It concludes with a call to action to organizations, governments, and the school system to contribute to the development of leaders so that they will have access to innovative intelligence and be able to engage in effective innovative thinking with their employees and teams.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK INNOVATIVE INTELLIGENCE

We present in this section a brief overview of the three parts of the book and a description of each chapter.

Part One: Closing the Innovation Gap

Part One of Innovative Intelligence (Chapters 1 to 4) describes the root causes and the challenges of the innovation gap, the need to enhance capabilities of leaders to lead through complexity, and the importance of accessing innovative intelligence to close the gap.

Chapter One: The Innovation Gap

This chapter defines innovation and innovative thinking. It then describes how the innovation gap impacts organizations and explains that there is an urgent need for innovation by all leaders, employees, and teams, in order to close the gap.

Chapter Two: Leading Through Complexity

The knowledge economy has created new demands for leaders to lead through much more complex issues and problems. Yesterday’s “right” answer does not work anymore. All leaders need to engage employees, teams, peers, and customers in order to gain better insight into the complexities they face and to discover the best ways to proceed.

Chapter Three: Accessing Innovative Intelligence

To be effective in the knowledge economy and contribute to closing the innovation gap in the workplace, leaders need to draw out their employees’ and teams’ innovative intelligence. Leaders need to understand when analytical thinking is the best process and when they need to apply innovative thinking in order to access the team’s innovative intelligence.

Chapter Four: Eclipse of Innovative Intelligence

This chapter describes three scenarios that can obscure or eclipse one’s innovative intelligence and offers suggestions for removing or reducing the impact of each eclipse.

Part Two: Innovative Thinking

Part Two of Innovative Intelligence (Chapters 5 to 9) introduces the innovative thinking process necessary to access innovative intelligence. It describes how leaders and employees can apply innovative thinking techniques and tools effectively in the workplace.

Chapter Five: Innovative Thinking: An Overview

This chapter provides an overview for the entire Part Two. Specifically, Chapter 5 explores the characteristics of an effective innovative thinking model and the key success factors of innovative thinking.

Chapter Six: Step 1: Framework

The framework is the foundation of successful innovative thinking. This chapter presents the six essential tools and techniques needed in order to create an effective framework. The first five together help leaders and teams understand and define “the problem.”The sixth tool is the plan, or project charter, which guides the process of gaining insight into an issue and discovering meaningful innovative solutions.

Chapter Seven: Step 2: Issue Redefinition

Issue redefinition is fundamentally concerned with identifying the root causes and sub-parts to shape and reshape an issue. Step 2: Issue Redefinition helps identify the best angles from which to solve the overall problem or opportunity.

Chapter Eight: Step 3: Idea Generation

Idea Generation is the step in the innovative thinking process that relies most intensely on innovative intelligence. This chapter explains the four stages of group idea generation and then describes how they can be applied by individuals.

Chapter Nine: Step 4: Implementation Planning

In Implementation Planning, leaders guide groups through the process of confirming the preferred ideas, engaging in a risk analysis, presenting the innovative solution for approval, and ensuring there is a proper handoff to an implementation team.

Part Three: Making Innovation Happen

Part Three of Innovative Intelligence (Chapters 10 to 14) explains how leaders can guide innovative teams. It then explores how to shape a culture of innovation, design organizational practices that promote and embed innovative thinking in an organization, and develop an organization-wide innovation plan.

Chapter Ten: Making Innovation Happen: an Overview

Innovative thinking is necessary but not sufficient for innovation to occur in organizations. This chapter provides an overview of the four essential enablers that are fundamental to making innovation happen.

Chapter Eleven: Leading Innovation

Innovation rarely happens and certainly cannot be sustained without the active commitment and involvement of effective leaders of innovation throughout the organization. This chapter explores the four areas of innovation leadership: leading self, leading innovation teams, leading intact work units, and leading innovative enterprises.

Chapter Twelve: Culture of Innovation

This chapter explores how culture impacts innovation and how to accelerate the transformation of a culture so that it enables and sustains innovation. It concludes with a challenge to leaders to actively create a culture that supports innovation rather than letting the existing organizational culture prevent innovation.

Chapter Thirteen: Organizational Practices for Innovation

This chapter explains the importance of implementing organizational practices that help individuals and teams to innovate. It explores all the organization processes and recommends how they can be improved to support innovation.

Chapter Fourteen: The Innovation Plan

This chapter focuses on the specific elements that should be included in an enterprise-wide innovation plan and the process to develop and measure its success. The final section of this chapter focuses on “pulling it all together.” In that section we integrate the ideas presented throughout the book and extend a challenge to governments, education systems, and multinational companies to do their part to help organizations close their innovation gaps.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

The book has been written for leaders who are dissatisfied with the current innovation gap in their organizations and are hungry for practical information, ideas, and techniques to advance innovation. Innovative Intelligence is very helpful both conceptually and practically. All the ideas and the practical tools presented in this book have been “road-tested” in engagements with our clients over the past few years and are already helping large organizations close their innovation gap. In particular, the following groups will find the book beneficial:

• Executives and managers at all levels who are seeking to understand how to enable innovative thinking and how to create a culture that supports innovation in their organizations.

• Boards of directors who understand their businesses’ continual competitive advantage depends on their capacity to innovate.

• Human Resources, talent management, and leadership development professionals, internal and external to an organization, who are interested in understanding how to build the leadership capability as innovative thinkers.

• Members of associations that are concerned with leadership innovation issues.

• Members of the academic community interested in a well-researched and practical text to teach their students about the need for innovative intelligence and about the changing role and expectations of leadership.

• Students in business schools, engineering, organizational behavior, and Human Resources programs, looking for a fuller understanding of the challenge of building organizational and leadership innovation capacity.

• Management consultants seeking ideas to provide advice to organizations about how to develop leadership innovation to drive business results.

HOW TO READ THIS BOOK

Most readers will benefit from reading the book cover to cover. However, others will find they can dip into the book for specific ideas and information, and it will add value. Here are some alternative ways this book can be read:

• Some readers—those responsible for the development of innovative leaders—may want to use the book as a study guide for use in training. A suggested approach is to ask the leaders to read Part One for the first discussion and Part Two for the second discussion. Part Three should probably be read and discussed one chapter at a time.

• Some readers may want to explore the topic of innovative thinking and how it is done, which can be found in Part Two (Chapters 5 to 9).

• If the readers are primarily interested in systemic change to create an organization that supports innovation, they may want to focus on reading Part Three (Chapters 10 to 14), which describes the key enablers and disablers of innovation in organizations.

• Finally, readers may want to study a topic of their own interest. A detailed index has been prepared for referencing specific topics. For example, the topic of “individual innovative thinking” is referenced in several chapters of the book. Readers can combine the ideas about a topic area to form their own analysis of the material.

Our intent is that readers of Innovative Intelligence will be convinced that innovative intelligence is essential for organizations to close the innovation gap. The book provides business leaders with the logic and the tools to enhance innovative intelligence in the workplace.

To this end, Innovative Intelligence presents the case for a new focus for leadership, centered on innovative thinking and fostering a culture that supports innovation. Our hope is that Innovative Intelligence will become the road map for executives and leadership professionals who are exploring how to develop innovative leaders who can close the innovation gap for business success.

PART ONE

CLOSING THE INNOVATION GAP

CHAPTER ONE

THE INNOVATION GAP

“The problem is much more complex and challenging than we thought,” the CEO declared to his executive team. “Initially, we thought our challenge was to sustain our leading position in the new competitive environment. We thought we were an innovative pharmaceutical company—but really we’re only an innovative R&D company. And now our R&D pipeline has almost ground to a halt. Healthcare regulators are not approving our new products. Generic drug companies are contesting our patents through intense litigation. Doctors don’t have the time to see us. We’re facing unprecedented political pressure to reduce the costs of our drugs. It’s obvious that we must become innovative throughout our company and not just in R&D. But how do we do that quickly?”

“We’ve trained our best leaders to focus on short-term problems and ‘making’ the numbers. We haven’t trained them to think innovatively. Our few innovative leaders have left to join healthcare start-ups that appreciate their innovative thinking. So we don’t have the skilled innovative leaders who can help lead us out of this mess.”