Am I Innovative: Test Three

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timeAccording to Harvard and The Energy Project people that are able to focus on one task at a time are 50% more engaged.   What this means is that those people were more involved with and passionate about their work.

The same holds true for Innovation.  Those individuals who can focus on one task at a time tend to be more innovative.  The big question is why?

The answer is simple.  Innovation takes time.  In order to create something new or change a process in a meaningful way it takes time.

When we innovate we need to play with ideas and concepts, define a future state, test new processes, and more.  People innovate when they have the time and space to engage in those efforts.

We also lose time when we take on too much and multi-task.  Study after study comes back with the same answer:

  • People that multi-task actually lose productive time and the quality of their work decreases.

So in order to truly say yes to an idea we have to say no to others.   How are you creating time in space in your organization for people to innovate?  How are you creating the time and space for you to innovate?

I am Innovative: Test One

I am Innovative: Test Two

The Workforce Challenge

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What’s standing in the way of our running a successful enterprise?

Executives from all over the world were asked to choose the top two obstacles to building a workforce that meets their future business needs. The two biggest obstacles identified were:

  • Employee longevity or loyalty
  • Adequate leadership

Source: Oxford Economics’ Workforce 2020: The looming Talent Crisis 2014

When you compare that with following Career Builder statistic:

  • Only 34% of U.S. workers aspire to leadership positions, with 7% aiming for senior or C-level management.

We have a challenging recipe.  But when you add-on that several studies that state people will switch jobs over 10 times by the time they reach 30 we are really underwater.

What do you think we can do to address this issue?

Leadership Transitions

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If only 34% of U.S. workers aspire to leadership positions, with 7% aiming for senior or C-level management what will that mean for our leadership bench strength? share your thoughts and ideas.

Am I Innovative? Test Two

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teeth-whitening-colgate-gelThey say ideas are like tooth brushes.  We each have one of our own, we like to use it and we sure as heck are not going to use anyone else’s.  That is test two.  Are your ideas to attached to your ego?

 

That may be the case if you feel like your ideas better than everyone else’s.

  • When you ask for ideas and help do you share your ideas?  Do you share them first?
  • Do you like to use your ideas and not anyone else’s?

How can you get people to be creative and collaborate when they have to make you happy in the process?  What employee will share their ideas when their boss has already told them what they wanted?

Leaders need to hold back their ideas when collaborating with their people.  A leader’s job is to define the problem that needs to be solved or the opportunity that lies ahead and then ask for help.  Leaders should encourage open transparent idea sharing.  Once people share ideas a leader should provide feedback about the idea they would like to pursue.  Specifically a leader should share the positive aspects of the idea and then share the aspects of the idea that are disadvantages. Once a leader is finished their next responsibility is to ask their people for ways to alter the idea in order to keep the positives and reduce or remove the negatives.  By approaching innovation and problem solving in this manner a leader can create collaboration and strengthen their team’s analytical and creativity skills.

If after following this process you still have not made progress then you as the leader can share your ideas.  However it is best if you build off of your team’s ideas.  The key is to gain real buy-in from your people.  It is better to move forward with an average idea that has full support and proper execution rather than a great idea with little support and haphazard execution.

In the end each of us as leaders must ask ourselves…

Would we rather be right or get something done?

I am Innovative:  Test One

I am Innovative: Test Three

Engagement as Culture—or Bust!

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United States spends more than $720 million annually on improving employee engagement, according 2012 research from industry analysts Bersin & Associates. The Center for Creative Leadership, PerformancePoint, Kenexa, and Gallop also track engagement figures. Some of the recent stats include:

  • a majority of employees (58 to 90 percent) do not trust management
  • only 14 to 58 percent of employees believe that management is ethical and honest
  • only 15 to 30 percent of employees are actually engaged.

Think about it: If we spend more than $720 million each year, why is engagement so low?

To read the full article go to:

http://www.astd.org/Publications/Blogs/Management-Blog/2014/11/Engagement-as-Culture-or-Bust

Am I Innovative? First Test

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Innovation word cloud

When people initially bring up new ideas do I first tend to:

  • Think about the risks and challenges
  • Imagine the “What if’s and Possibilities”  of it working

We cannot be in two places at the same time.  Where we start determines how innovative we are.  If we start with a risk based approach to new ideas then we will destroy the idea before it ever gets explored.  Why?  Because new ideas are scary to begin with.  New ideas have risk associated with them.  Without buy-in and exploring the value of an idea discussing the risks and potholes of an idea will cause it to die on the vine before it ever ripens.

But if you start with imagining success…If you can see it working and see the value of a new idea then you have a sufficient base for exploring risks.  Why?  Because now people want to see the idea work.  They will overcome ordinary barriers to execute the idea.  They will deal with bumps in the road that will inevitably occur in rolling out a new concept.  The only risks that will kill an idea with buy-in and value are the risks that should kill it.

So why do we too often start by shooting down ideas?  Fear.

  • Fear of the unknown
  • Fear of change
  • Fear of a loss of power
  • Fear of failure
  • Fear of someone else’s success

And there are a lot more fears.  So if you want to be innovative look in the mirror.  What are you afraid of?  Next time you start a brainstorming process by picking a part someone else’s idea take a deep breath and ask yourself…What would happen if it worked?

Am I Innovative: Test Two

Am I Innovative: Test Three