The Core Files: The Road to Innovation, Stability & a Well-Worn Primer

Innovation is a mammoth construct — conjuring thoughts of game-changing ideas and edgy industry decisions. Yet, innovation can come in many forms and there isn't a single method or strategy that is warranted in every situation. In fact, not all paths to innovation are flashy or news-worthy; some are quiet and much more humble. We can miss these paths because we cast innovation as a lofty, storybook character that could not already be operating in our midst.

I speak of innovation in this forum, because it helps build and maintain organizational stability. That may sound counter-intuitive. Yet, innovation is necessary for any organism to survive. There are a number of options to innovate — some requiring months to coordinate; yet others can begin quickly. I've been steeped in a skunk works platform to head off intense manufacturing competition (see below), called to a college to help ensure its real-world relevance & brokered needed collaborations among opposing functions. These situations required different methods. All had their unique challenges. All worthy in their own right.

While innovation may have been the end goal in each case; the process was somewhat personal to that organization, its contributors and the pressing organizational goal waiting to be addressed.

I've observed one clear rule about innovation: There is no single way to innovate. We have to keep both our eyes and hearts open to possible solutions.

I thought it a good time to describe a few methods that could help your team move forward (they run the gamut, so to speak). If you have another method that is a hybrid or lives somewhere in-between, share it in comments. Take what you need and pass the information along, if you see value.

• Crowdsourcing In-Place. Innovation by another name is still as sweet. We tend to label innovation as an encapsulated initiative, when innovative actions are often already occurring. The actions are simply decentralized or diffused. I've spent time in organizations where innovative practices had already been developed, were in practice, yet were not widely-known. Surveying your in-house experts (your employees) and documenting what is already working — may in fact become the most expedient method.
• Professional Organizations. When contributors work in varied settings and locations, professional organizations can help fill the void when pressing issues require an innovative response. In most cases the organizations in which members work, may not have the specific industry knowledge or the bandwidth to respond adequately. Targeted research, communicated solutions & training offerings, can help meet the need to innovate. Working in concert with these organizations, can propel the opportunity to innovate.
• Skunk Works. When you are dealing with an inflexible, deeply bureaucratic structure — setting up a new, independent team may be the only way to drive innovation. This includes setting up a streamlined reporting & decision-making rubric to help the team make timely progress. The overriding goal is to protect the innovative body from the tendency of the established organism to impede/destroy needed progress. (Acquiring another organization to become more innovative can fall prey to this end — often when the existing body is in dire straits to change.)

Do you have another method to pass along to readers of The Core Files? Share it below.

Marla Gottschalk, Ph.D. is an I/O Psychology Practitioner who explores core stability and the dynamic nature of work life. A charter member of the LinkedIn Influencer Program, she speaks to teams & organizations on how to build stronger foundations through the practice of core stability. Her thoughts on work life have also appeared at the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, BBC Work Life, Quartz and The Huffington Post