Rewarding Execution, not Ideas
Philip Holt
Business Transformation Leader and COO | MBA | Leadership | Business Transformation | Operational Excellence | C-suite Level Engagement | Lean Thinking | Organisational & Value Stream Design
At their most positive, ideas are the fuel of innovation and an organisation without ideas is one poor of spirit. Nevertheless, ideas are sometimes used for self-aggrandisement rather than innovation and this can be a debilitator of performance, as team members are rewarded for their ideas rather than the delivery of results. This is an environment where highly ambitious ideas of what we should / could / will look like are valued and rewarded above actions that actually deliver more modest results.
What you will observe in an organisation that is operating in this way is that there are a surfeit of ideas that are regularly delivered, often in the form of email but also in very nicely crafted PowerPoint format. However, coupled to this are a couple of other symptoms that point toward an organisation of idea mongers rather than innovative problem solvers, namely no formal review system for assessing the actual success of projects or programs and / or many ideas directed toward what others should do, rather than what I or we could do.
Referring back to Simon Sinek and his Why, How and What codification, whether it be the Wright Brothers, Apple or an operator on a production line, the idea that they have must be based upon the solution of a problem with meaning, even if that meaning is relatively small in the scheme of things. It must be a problem for which the solution will result in increased value for the customer and, above all, the person with the idea must take ownership for the success of its execution. The Lean Leader must therefore ensure that the organisation focuses on rewarding and recognising those employees who have not only delivered an idea for improvement but have assumed the accountability for its successful implementation.
This article was first published on my personal website in May 2016.
Feel free to visit my Website and Blog at: LeadingwithLean and my other LinkedIn posts may be found at this link.
"Leading with Lean" is now available to buy:
To read more, order the book, or download the Introduction, please use this link.
Follow me on Twitter: @LeanMaster1 to find out more.
I am an experienced Senior Operations and Business Transformation Leader with over 15 years experience delivering value and improvements globally and a track record of Lean Transformation within a Global Blue Chip Organisation. I am passionate about delivering Operational Excellence through Lean Leadership and enjoy sharing and discussing my experiences with others.
To hear more about my Book, visit my YouTube video:
#LeadingwithLean #LeanThinking #LeanLeadership #LeadwithLean #Leadership
Senior Vice President QHSE & Sustainability bei Freudenberg Sealing Technologies | Innovating in Quality, HSE and Sustainability to drive Excellence
8 年Again a good one. I also agree to Alberto Daniel Cos that the balance between ideas and execution is the important driver of successful business. No futur success without having ideas. But the ideas also have to bring benefit for the organization.
Business Process Improvement | Operational Excellence | Business Performance Improvement | Business and Digital Transformation | Lean Six Sigma | Salesforce
8 年Excellent read, thank you!
Driving Technology-Enabled Productivity and Innovation ? Digital Solutions Business Partner for Americas, Global Procurement and PPS ? GBS Automation Leader Americas ? Lean Six Sigma Black Belt ? Agile SAFe? 5 ?
8 年It's a balance matter I think. Ideas without execution are like having a Ferrari always stored in your garage and spend the time congratulating yourself just for having it, look at it without driving Execution without idea are is like having the same Ferrari and trying to drive it at 260kms per hour without the most basic knowledge of driving Neither works properly Landing this way of thinking at our daily work, I think that we need to encourage ideas creation but if we are talking about rewarding, we need to be sure that the ideas has already results (proof points are a good way to ensure that)
A Lean Practitioner creating Culture of Excellence with an army of Lean thinkers. Lean Six Sigma Black Belt with 14+years (USA & INDIA), Masters (USA) & Bachelors in Industrial Engineering
8 年Hi Philip Holt, your statement "The Lean Leader must therefore ensure that the organisation focuses on rewarding and recognising those employees who have not only delivered an idea for improvement but have assumed the accountability for its successful implementation." sums it up all. In my organization focus is on implemented Idea, as we empowered our employees to make changes in their work-area to better their process. And they share how they did it with Opex Team(us). Again.. it's all numbers at the end.
Leadership Coaching, Business Architechture, Strategic Transformation, Organisation Culture, Lean/Six Sigma/Operational Excellence, Strategy Development & Execution
8 年Excellent Read..