A culture of innovation is highly valued by many employees. A survey conducted for the Australian Institute of Management* found this to be true for Generation X (in their 30's) and Generation Y (in their 20's).
This survey sought to identify the main factors impacting on staff loyalty. The main determining factor was found to be "Management Culture", nominated by 67% of respondents. Within this category, "Forward-thinking and innovative management" was the second-most important factor that would encourage young people to stay with their present employer. Number One was "A management style that you respect".
The survey identified a group of employees who were extremely happy in their job and were likely to be working there in three years' time. The researchers analysed the responses of these "happy and loyal" people. Let's look at the items that are relevant to an innovative working culture:
• 78% of the "happy and loyal" said they worked for forward thinking and innovative management, compared with 40% of the total.
• 77% of the "happy and loyal" said their management was willing to delegate responsibilities, compared with 46% of the total.
• 84% of the "happy and loyal" agreed that their management allowed them to be creative, compared with 60% of the total.
55% of ALL respondents nominated "permission to be creative" as a factor that would encourage them to stay with their employer.
Now, this survey was published in October 2007, which is not all that long ago, but before the global financial crisis set off a chain of redundancies. Will those who keep their jobs (or manage to get new ones) change their values?
I don't think they will. People might compromise their values in the face of pressure, but that doesn't make them happy or enthusiastic in their work. Humans need to use their ingenuity and to see that it is valued. People need channels to express their creativity.
At work, people often feel that their creativity is stifled and undervalued. This could now be exacerbated, as many companies will "play it safe" and "stick to the knitting" rather than trying something new. In response to this, employees will increasingly "keep their heads down", rather than "stick their necks out" by suggesting new initiatives.
Unspoken expectations and assumptions in the workplace lead to poor communication. Especially when the pressure is on, employers don't invite ideas, or they dismiss ideas, often without meaning to. Employees assume that things at work cannot be changed, and that their suggestions would not be valued (or worse, would be held against them). The human need to create and contribute is often neglected at work, with the result that employers lose the opportunity to get the best out of their people.
With economies in crisis, the world is getting more competitive. We need to dig ever deeper for innovative ways to compete. Businesses will need lots of creative ideas in order to survive the crisis.
Human ingenuity is an unlimited resource. But it has to be mined to bring it to the surface. You have to work on tapping into this valuable resource by creating an environment where ideas can flow.
Use what you've got, to get what you want.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Unchain your Brain
If you want to implement an idea, you must first explain and sell it to others, e.g. your boss, staff, co-workers, clients. Those people may be resistant to your suggestion for some reason. They'll tell you why it won't work. Or they might not understand what you mean. Even if they do say yes, if they don't really support it, you'll have a hard time putting it into action.
Lots of potentially great ideas are squandered, destined to moulder away in a locked box, because people don't raise their idea, or they give up as soon as they meet some resistance. It takes a lot of skill to communicate an idea in a way that makes others buy into it.
Lack of skill diminishes the quality of communication. For example, when I send emails to people, I put a fair bit of effort into making the tone of my writing sound friendly. But from time to time, I will receive a very curt and blunt response from someone. When I first started using email, this always caused me angst. I would wonder why the person was being so unfriendly. But after I while it dawned on me that probably they did not mean to be unfriendly. They just couldn't type very well. Their lack of keyboard skills caused them to type as little as possible, not realising the effect it would have on their relationship with the recipient.
Recently, I was teaching in a public speaking training course. When asked "What do you want to gain from this course?", one participant said "I want to be able to take an active role in meetings, not be the person sitting in the background holding onto his thoughts." As the course progressed, everyone's confidence and skills developed. That man gave us a glimpse of the brilliant thoughts in his head. What a waste it had been for him not to share his ideas for lack of confidence and skill.
Important as they are, public speaking skills are really the icing on the cake. Before you stand up to speak, you must have a strong and clear message. Similarly, before you put forward an idea, you need to have considered the most effective way to express it.
Here are nine key skills that you can develop, to improve your ability to formulate and communicate ideas:
Foresight. What is going on around you? What are the trends that will affect you? How does your idea fit in with these?
Communication. What's the best way to share your ideas? You can select from various methods of "telling", "asking" or "showing". Select the most appropriate role for the given circumstances, so you get your point across in a meaningful, effective and engaging way.
Comprehension. How do others like to receive information? By understanding and responding to this, you can get the attention of more of the people, more of the time.
Uniqueness. Who are you? We are all the product of our particular unbringing, education and experience. When you understand what you uniquely have to offer, your contribution suddenly becomes much more valuable.
Expertise. What do you know? You'd be surprised how much of your knowledge you take for granted. Use it to make a point and share it in an engaging way.
Positioning. When someone asks "What do you do?", how to you respond? Know how to position yourself and your organisation so that people know exactly what you do and why.
Pitching. How do you get your idea out? Learn how to invite people to buy you, your business or your ideas more effectively.
Commitment. How do you sell the vision? Learn how to influence others so they engage with your ideas.
Execution. How do you launch a concept? Take your great ideas and bring them to reality.
These are the skills of thought leadership. They help you unlock the great ideas in your head and use them to create a better world for yourself and those around you.
Use what you've got, to get what you want.
Lots of potentially great ideas are squandered, destined to moulder away in a locked box, because people don't raise their idea, or they give up as soon as they meet some resistance. It takes a lot of skill to communicate an idea in a way that makes others buy into it.
Lack of skill diminishes the quality of communication. For example, when I send emails to people, I put a fair bit of effort into making the tone of my writing sound friendly. But from time to time, I will receive a very curt and blunt response from someone. When I first started using email, this always caused me angst. I would wonder why the person was being so unfriendly. But after I while it dawned on me that probably they did not mean to be unfriendly. They just couldn't type very well. Their lack of keyboard skills caused them to type as little as possible, not realising the effect it would have on their relationship with the recipient.
Recently, I was teaching in a public speaking training course. When asked "What do you want to gain from this course?", one participant said "I want to be able to take an active role in meetings, not be the person sitting in the background holding onto his thoughts." As the course progressed, everyone's confidence and skills developed. That man gave us a glimpse of the brilliant thoughts in his head. What a waste it had been for him not to share his ideas for lack of confidence and skill.
Important as they are, public speaking skills are really the icing on the cake. Before you stand up to speak, you must have a strong and clear message. Similarly, before you put forward an idea, you need to have considered the most effective way to express it.
Here are nine key skills that you can develop, to improve your ability to formulate and communicate ideas:
Foresight. What is going on around you? What are the trends that will affect you? How does your idea fit in with these?
Communication. What's the best way to share your ideas? You can select from various methods of "telling", "asking" or "showing". Select the most appropriate role for the given circumstances, so you get your point across in a meaningful, effective and engaging way.
Comprehension. How do others like to receive information? By understanding and responding to this, you can get the attention of more of the people, more of the time.
Uniqueness. Who are you? We are all the product of our particular unbringing, education and experience. When you understand what you uniquely have to offer, your contribution suddenly becomes much more valuable.
Expertise. What do you know? You'd be surprised how much of your knowledge you take for granted. Use it to make a point and share it in an engaging way.
Positioning. When someone asks "What do you do?", how to you respond? Know how to position yourself and your organisation so that people know exactly what you do and why.
Pitching. How do you get your idea out? Learn how to invite people to buy you, your business or your ideas more effectively.
Commitment. How do you sell the vision? Learn how to influence others so they engage with your ideas.
Execution. How do you launch a concept? Take your great ideas and bring them to reality.
These are the skills of thought leadership. They help you unlock the great ideas in your head and use them to create a better world for yourself and those around you.
Use what you've got, to get what you want.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
The Innovation Paradox
Last week I took part in an industry panel to hear presentations by University students and provide them with feedback. These students had taken part in a program of impressive and challenging international activities. For example, they had studied overseas, done humanitarian work, attended conferences and worked with visiting international students.
This was their opportunity to “sell themselves”; a chance to articulate what they had gained from the program and how their experiences set them apart from other graduates.
The students all spoke with great enthusiasm and clearly were grateful for the opportunities that had been made available to them. But they struggled to describe how they themselves had been improved; how their experiences differentiated them. Their presentations focused on selling the program, rather than on selling themselves.
Also last week, I worked with an organisation seeking a new business strategy. The management team struggled to articulate what was different and special about their firm, saying “We are quite good at most things” – not exactly a basis for differentiation! But through my relentless questioning, I discovered that they did have something unique with huge potential; something they had never thought about leveraging.
How can you capitalise on your uniqueness if you don’t even know what it is?
The innovation paradox is that to innovate you have to stand out, but many people would prefer to blend in.
Why is this? Partly, it’s being unable to see what you’ve got that’s special and valuable, and partly a feeling of discomfort around what feels like “boasting”, “bragging”, “blowing your own trumpet”, “big-noting yourself” or “singing your own praises”. It is fashionable to speak self-deprecatingly about your abilities. One of the students even told us “I am sooooo untalented!”
You don’t have to be narcissistic and flaunt yourself. But if you’re not aware of what you’ve got, if you’ve never even thought about it, you can’t use it. You can’t sell yourself without the right product knowledge.
This was their opportunity to “sell themselves”; a chance to articulate what they had gained from the program and how their experiences set them apart from other graduates.
The students all spoke with great enthusiasm and clearly were grateful for the opportunities that had been made available to them. But they struggled to describe how they themselves had been improved; how their experiences differentiated them. Their presentations focused on selling the program, rather than on selling themselves.
Also last week, I worked with an organisation seeking a new business strategy. The management team struggled to articulate what was different and special about their firm, saying “We are quite good at most things” – not exactly a basis for differentiation! But through my relentless questioning, I discovered that they did have something unique with huge potential; something they had never thought about leveraging.
How can you capitalise on your uniqueness if you don’t even know what it is?
The innovation paradox is that to innovate you have to stand out, but many people would prefer to blend in.
Why is this? Partly, it’s being unable to see what you’ve got that’s special and valuable, and partly a feeling of discomfort around what feels like “boasting”, “bragging”, “blowing your own trumpet”, “big-noting yourself” or “singing your own praises”. It is fashionable to speak self-deprecatingly about your abilities. One of the students even told us “I am sooooo untalented!”
You don’t have to be narcissistic and flaunt yourself. But if you’re not aware of what you’ve got, if you’ve never even thought about it, you can’t use it. You can’t sell yourself without the right product knowledge.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)