Managing innovation: How can I HELP?

It has been an exciting week! My article co-authored with the one and only Prof. Rita McGrath was published by Fast Company. The primary message we wanted to communicate is that a strong partnership between different functions is critical for bringing innovation to life. Specifically in a corporation, the relationship between technical community and business leadership is crucial to delivering science-based, scalable, sustainable innovation.

Many leaders may not be aware of the chasms that can exist in the thinking based on the cultural context within each field, and prevailing motivation within each function. While others may be aware but not addressing it appropriately. Good business builders are able to navigate the chasm and harness the inventive powers of the technical community to create value and foster growth. We want more leaders to understand, acknowledge and help bridge the gap and drive innovation that the world needs right now, given the megatrends shaping it. ?

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I draw upon my 30 years of experience as a technical employee at 3M, as well as from my interactions with many other R&D folks engaged in advancing science, developing technology and commercializing innovation in peer companies, to suggest a path forward. Prof Rita McGrath’s extensive work, experience and research in strategy and innovation validates the issues and supports the recommendations. It has been an extreme honor and a proud privilege to work with her on this piece.

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Help yourself!

I often say that in times of great change many aspects of corporate playbooks need to become workbooks, in that they often need to be rewritten. Most playbooks have been assembled for fairly stable and predictable times. What has worked in the past may not work during times of change and when there is upheaval on many fronts. Times like this also seem to magnify the differences between various functions and create silos within organizations. These divides or gaps may relate to how each function perceives priorities, timelines and their roles and responsibilities. And said gaps can be further compounded if there is a new business leader every few years.

However, good business leaders intuitively key into these functional differences and the dialectical thinking necessary to create an environment that fosters trust. They can manage the appropriate balance on the contradictory elements, understand the rich context and operate in a manner that helps in bridging the gap by rightsizing communications around goals, by tapping into skills, focusing on learning, and facilitating organizational focus.

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Help out?

There are four specific aspects in our view that need closer examination as business leaders develop their strategies and tactical plans.

First, now may not be the time to place singular large bets, instead organizations may be better served by focusing on the smaller steps and experiments that provide data and build hypothesis for what is to come. The Hedgehog mentality can pose challenges – that emphasis on doing the ‘one big thing,’ many times comes at the cost of the very important ‘little things’ that may matter a lot more in the long run.

Another issue is the Expertise management that many leaders seem to value – however it doesn’t often deliver in times of immense change like we are currently seeing when the baseline itself shifts and new areas and aspects continue to emerge. It is a time to emphasize skills and their development over relying solely on strictly functional expertise. Technical people may not have business expertise but given their typically longer tenure and critical thinking mindset, they may want to be involved in business assumptions and providing input into key decisions.

Next is the Leveraging mindset that many leaders want to exercise during their tenure in an organization – unfortunately this can’t be sustained when there is little left to leverage if leaders rapidly cycle through. Business builders must invest in collective understanding and learning during times of change so that the new learnings can be leveraged for innovation and growth.

And finally, a constant Prioritization model that many in leadership roles seem to think holds the key to their success and legacy, can be an issue. Often the perceived ability to better determine what is more important compared to the previous leader(s) can get in the way. Facilitating sustained, consistent focus on execution of priorities should be given fair consideration as opposed to the task of constant reprioritization of multiple important priorities.

The HELP needed right now is for business leaders to balance these better:

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Hedgehog versus fox mentality

Expertise versus skill management

Leveraging versus learning mindset

Prioritization versus focus model

Stated another way, what can often set an organization up for success during times of change is – the Fox (not the hedgehog 'one big thing' mentality), the Skills (not just expertise management only), the Learning (not just the leveraging mindset – you can’t leverage if you don’t ever learn), Focus (and not constant re/prioritization model).

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Help is on its way…

Check out the article to see more on the 4 big mistakes, what to say, not say, do and not do and Prof. Rita McGrath's research that supports it. We also provide 3 suggestions on how to move forward, together!

There is likely a long list of what business leaders think technologists should do or not do - but good business builders also understand that at the end of the day as leaders it is their responsibility to build bridges and close any gaps.

In my experience, what technical community wants the business leaders to do is facilitate a sustained focus on priorities, foster a culture of learning, further organizational skill development and build the capacity for foxy flexibility to adapt to changes to the marketplace and bring innovation to life.

The most effective business leaders listen, learn and lead with a sense of legacy, even while knowing well they may be there only for a short time. One of the best business leaders I worked with, never finished a meeting with technical people without asking – “how can I help you?”

They also knew well the HELP we don’t need.

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