There is a sickness ravaging corporate America today...a sickness that may or may not be curable.  It is a sickness that is easily preventable, but rarely ever treated once the infection sets in.  A sickness called Words vs. Action Mismatch Syndrome.

Let's take a look at symptoms, shall we?

Symptom 1:  You just started a new position with the organization and you are told that the company treats its employees like family and that like any family, trust is important.  Then you are asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, non-compete agreement, records confidentiality agreement and code of conduct agreement.

Symptom 2:  You are told that the organization values the ideas of every single employee and fully expects your involvement in identifying problems and championing solutions.  To accomplish this, you are given access to the Process Asset Library where you will find the templates you must use to validate that you are following the organizational processes and will be assigned a Process Owner who will guide you through the other governance oversight structures.

Symptom 3:  You are encouraged to "think outside the box" and use company time to troubleshoot issues, find root causes to problems, incubate ideas and develop solution prototypes.  You are then asked to sign an IT Security Policy that restricts your access to any documentation not essential to your existing role.  You also note that nearly every website that may provide you with lessons learned, best practices studies, white papers or other valuable research is summarily blocked via web filter and you can expect, due to the number of attempts to access these sites, a call from your boss or someone in Human Resources.

Symptom 4:  You are told that a special budget exists to fund research and the development of ideas/prototypes.  When you request funding from this special budget for your great idea, you are asked to provide a business case, cost-benefit analysis, market research and a positive IRR validated by the Finance Department.

Symptom 5:  You somehow get the funding you need to build a prototype and next go about identifying the people you need to help get your idea off of the ground.  You find that the people you need are ready, willing and able to help.  After repeated "resource allocation requests" to their functional managers, however, you realize that each and every person within the organization is over-committed.  Actually, "over-committed" doesn't accurately describe the situation.  If someone was able to take the time to calculate human resource demand and allocation, each person would discover that they would need to work for 143 straight days, without sleep or a break, to deliver all of the tasks currently assigned to them that are either due today or are already past due.

There are hundreds and hundreds of other actual examples where organizational "words" fail to match organizational "action" or behavior.  Creativity and innovation are culture-driven disciplines.  Like any other discipline, and like any other culture, they require that the words and the action match in order to be effective.  Those who are most likely in a position to ensure this behavior are senior leadership.  If they aren't "walking the talk" how can you expect anyone else in the organization to do it?  Have courage.  Be brave.  Make decisions. 

Okay...check out this quote and tell me Jeffrey Phillips from the Innovate on Purpose Blog isn't one your new heroes:

"Fearlessness: You can't succeed when innovation trying not to fail. Too many innovation programs seek very simple, very safe ideas to generate and implement. That's not the point. We've already got Black belts and continuous improvement programs and product roadmaps. We need some risk and danger. The leader needs to be able to stick her neck out and ask some crazy questions, cannibalize existing products and overturn markets, or the end result will be more of the same."

Read the entire blog entry by clicking HERE.  Its great stuff!  Thanks Jeffrey!

"One should never impose one’s views on a problem; one should rather study it, and in time a solution will reveal itself." - Albert Einstein

Incubation.  It is one of the least understood steps in the creative problem solving process. 

Incubation is defined as "to cause or aid the development of."  Clear as mud, right?

In the creative problem solving sense of the word, incubation is nothing more than the period of time allowed between defining the problem to be solved and the purposeful search for new ideas that may solve the problem.  In other words, incubation is when you let your mind do what it is designed to do...solve problems.

One of the most popular theories of human problem solving is that the function of the sub-conscious mind, among other things, is to record everything that you experience via your five senses.  This recorded sensory information is "categorized" and available in various stages of recall.  These stages of recall are immediate, shallow and deep.  For those of you with IT experience, think of it as the world's fastest and most powerful relational database. 

For example, major life events such as the birth of a child or traumatic events such as a car accident, along with recent events are stored in the immediate recall section of the sub-conscious.  Short-term, functional memories and logical groupings of sensory experiences are stored in the shallow sub-conscious.  Finally, long-term memories and tangential groupings of sensory experiences are stored in the deep sub-conscious.

Another function of the sub-conscious mind is to compare all problems it receives with the information it has recorded and categorized.  This is where incubation takes place.  Known solutions to a problem and combinations of potential solutions are presented as "ideas" by your sub-conscious mind.

Sometimes the incubation period is immediate.  For example, if you are faced with the sudden problem of a tire blowout on your car, your sub-conscious mind searches its immediate recall area for a solution and reacts accordingly. 

With other types of problems however, the incubation period can take days or even weeks.   This is typically the experience you have when an idea to a problem you forgot you even had suddenly pops into your head while you are taking a shower two days later.

Simply understanding how your sub-conscious mind works provides you with a critical advantage in problem solving.  Once you understand how the process works, you can create the right environment for the incubation process.  And the best part...its simple and fun!

Here are a few of my favorite methods for a successful incubation:

• Write down the problem on a piece of paper; Put the paper in a drawer for two days; Just before bed on the 2nd day, take out the paper and read the problem out loud; When ideas start to appear, write them down
• Schedule time for daily incubation; These are times when you purposely allow your mind to wander...showering, driving to work, walking the dog, watching the birds, soaking in the tub, cutting the grass, etc.
• Pay attention to even the smallest details
• Make sure the "recordings" your sub-conscious mind is making are good ones...Watch the Science Channel instead of the Ultimate Fighting Championship...
• Just being self-aware helps!!!
• Imagine like a child...It is DEFINITELY going to take some practice!!!

Most importantly, do not try to force incubation.  Its a bit like grabbing a wet bar of soap...the harder you squeeze, the more difficult it is to hang onto it. 

The opinion I am about to provide is strictly based on anecdotal evidence and is a direct result of my personal observations at client sites, as the host of an innovation-related LinkedIn group, as a blog author and as an expert and keen observer in the innovation management field.

It is my personal opinion that the innovation wave has finally crested. 

What is my leading indicator for such a bold statement?  Well, I actually have a number of them:

• Former Six Sigma Practitioners are seeking out innovation training, innovation networking groups and other opportunities to "jump ship" away from cost-cutting efforts and toward growth and NPD initiatives
  
• The Big-5 Consulting Firms have formed (or are in the process of forming) Innovation Management Consulting Groups.  They are trying to learn everything they can...buying it when necessary, stealing it when they can, and otherwise throwing their weight around on what they see as the consulting opportunity du jour. 
  
• Companies, large and small, are beginning to understand the true advantage of innovation as a continuous discipline vs. innovation as a one-time project.  Otherwise, why would the Big-5 AND the little guys like Think For A Change, LLC. be falling all over ourselves to provide innovation management consultation services?
• My own business is picking up.  You know the awareness has reached a peak when organizations are calling and e-mailing me for:
• Personal creativity and innovation training for their employees
• Help setting up innovation management processes and business process strategies that will last longer than this current "wave"
• Obtaining an independent assessment on existing innovation maturity along with a detailed roadmap on how to increase that maturity level
• To move beyond "best practices" and start creating "next practices"

While I think we still have a long way to go on education, awareness and the need to ensure that organizations are receiving competent and expert opinions and advice, the wave is rolling...hop on!!!

Do you agree or disagree?  I'd love to hear your opinions!!!

A great blog entry from the folks at techdarkside.com about the need for IT and business unit collaboration as it relates to innovation success.  In essence, and you'll forgive the bluntness, petty pissing matches never lead to new ideas and innovation.  Enjoy!!!

Here's a great interview with Brad Bird of Pixar Entertainment from McKinsey on the challenges and rewards of promoting a culture of organizational creativity...Enjoy!!!

Two possible definitions of "Execution" from the FreeDictionary.com:

1.  The manner, style, or result of performance
2.  The act or an instance of putting to death or being put to death as a lawful penalty.

Its weird how the two wildly different definitions landed on the same word isn't it?  But in today's fast-paced, delivery-oriented business climate, the two definitions are logical partners.  Execute...or be executed.

Innovation cannot happen without some kind of execution.  Remember, ideas aren't real until they are "executed."  That's why every definition of innovation contains an action of some sort.  An action that, as noted above, results in the manner, style or result of performance.

Most organizations do not suffer from a shortage of ideas.  Employees, management, vendors, partners and customers all have ideas on how to make your product/service better, faster and cheaper.  But again, ideas are the easy part...they mostly just happen.  Step two takes action or execution.

Figuring out what problems you want to solve...takes execution
Collecting ideas from employees, management, vendors, partners and customers...takes execution
Filtering ideas and deciding which ideas you want to commercialize...takes execution
Committing resources, both financial and human, toward commercialization...takes execution
Developing a solid project plan to move the idea to reality...takes execution
Marketing the product/service and making the idea known to the world...takes execution
Making a profit on an idea...takes execution

To be a good innovator, you need to excel at execution.  There is no other way.

Idris Mootee, the author of the Innovation Playground Blog and cross-poster on the Marketing and Strategy Innovation Blog has had some awesome posts on innovation and entrepreneurship in the last week.  I encourage you to check them out!!! 

For your (and my) convenience, I have also added Innovation Playground to the Blogroll. 

"Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties." - Erich Fromm

There is a lot of "noise in the channel" surrounding organizational creativity and innovation these days.  In fact, much of the noise comes from those who don't even understand the difference between creativity (ideas & invention) and innovation (action & implementation).  Sadly, even some of the new "expert consultants" from perennial business fad band-wagon-jumpers like Deloitte, McKinsey, Wipro, etc. even get this wrong.

Not surpising...as waves of the "next big thing" always bring posers who attempt to use their largesse to impress, but instead waste everyone's time and money by lacking the background to support effective transformation, change and improvement.  Yesterday's army of high-priced Value Engineers and Six Sigma Black Belts are today's Corporate Innovation Consultants and Ideation Facilitators.

So, fellow defenders of ideas, creativity, and imagination, how are we going to protect our innovation knowledge against the posers, the wanna-bes, and the clingers-on?  How do we set ourselves apart as the real experts in this field?  How do we convince organizational leaders to begin to let go of the incremental, cost-cutting, outsourcing, off-shoring vicegrip? 

My answer is...courage.

Courage to stop making innovation and organizational creativity unnecessarily confusing.  Let's be honest...it isn't rocket science.  In fact, truth be told, its nothing more than common sense.  Ever watch a three year-old play, or problem solve, or imagine?  They don't have a Yale MBA or special McKinsey training seminar background.  Yet, they seem to thrive in the world of "make believe."  They develop unique solutions to problems.

But unfortunately, as adults, and sometimes as innovation consultants, we instinctively try to make it more complicated.  We do this to convince ourselves that we provide value.  We do it to justify our $200/hour rate by converting the self-made confusing into something easy to understand.  Well...it just isn't necessary, and it is going to take some courage to change.  So how do we get started?

Organizations need help with transformations.  To visualize this, think of most organizations as a large ocean-going container ship.  Once you get that thing moving in one direction, it is going to take some monumental effort and horsepower to change course.  And why do they need to change course?  To stay competitive.  If you stand still in business, you die.  So, for the past few years, organizations focused on cutting costs, streamlining operations and eliminating variance in an attempt to differentiate themselves from the competition.  But when everyone follows the same course, that differentiation quickly evaporates.  Its what I call "Best Practice Syndrome." 

That leads us to where we are today.  Organizations now realize that the only thing that provides business success, at least on a sustained basis, (which is why innovation never has been, and never will be, a fad) is differentiation.  And with differentiation comes growth.  And with growth comes success.  But where does this differentiation come from?  Ideas.  Imagination.  Courage.

While there are many ways to differentiate/innovate such as: incremental, disruptive, breakthrough, product, service, business model, etc., the basic formula remains the same:

Imagination + Experience = Ideas + Problem = Creativity + Action = Innovation + Implementation = Differentiation + Growth = Success

Again, not rocket science. 

So...what value do organizational creativity and innovation consultants provide if this is all just common sense?  Well, I'll refer back to my point about organizations resembling large ocean-going container ships.  There is a ton of inertia involved in shifting course from "best practices" to "next practices."  We provide the structure, order, process, knowledge, experience, and courage to make common sense work within organizations.  We provide the ability to make sense out of "fuzzy front end" of ideas, imagination and, in general, what could be.  We provide the discipline to chart a course that ideas can follow to become reality.  We lay the foundation of solid management principles that support a culture of creation and differentiation.

You see...there is so much we have to offer organizations that seek to embark on this challenging transformation.   So stop adding more "noise to the channel" by making the concepts of creativity and innovation unnecessarily confusing or complicated. 

Have the courage to share common sense.  Have the courage to make the "what" and "why" as easy as possible, while working to deliver the "how" through our specialized knowledge of how ideas, creativity, imagination, innovation, project management and business management merge together to provide competitive advantage. 

The Think For A Change, LLC. Publications Page has been re-launched to provide clients, readers and followers with the opportunity to purchase eBooks, eTools and other thought leadership related items on innovation management, organizational creativity, idea management and everything else related to the power of ideas and imagination.

Please click HERE to review the new Publications Page.

More products and online services to come in the next few months!!!

Since these images don't always come out the cleanest via the blog publication software, please CLICK HERE to obtain your PDF-based copy of the invitation.  Hope to see you there!!!!

Great article by Jack Hipple called "A Recession Is Coming (?)" over at RealInnovation...CHECK IT OUT

"Maturity is achieved when a person postpones immediate pleasures for long-term values" - Joshua Loth Liebman

In the quote above, replace immediate pleasure with cost cutting and long-term values with innovation and you'll understand the fight that is occurring in every executive suite in the world.

As the United States economy appears to be in a recession, albeit a mild one for now, many organizations are turning to their out-dated and knee-jerk reactionary "disaster" plans which usually consist of a checklist with very few items:

• Cut costs
• Layoff workers
• Stop, delay, slow down and otherwise obfuscate projects
• Kill any effort that is future focused (eg. beyond the next quarter)

The smart organizations however, especially those who are higher up on the Innovation Maturity Model, are doing the exact opposite.  Their checklist consists of the following:

• Increasing innovation portfolio budgets, but perhaps re-aligning the incremental to radical risk ratios
  
• Picking up the creative and entrepreneurial cast-offs from their competitors
• Horizon Scanning, Trend Analysis, Customer/Consumer Observation and other future-focused activities
• Thinking, brainstorming, challenging assumptions, taking risks and otherwise kicking butt

These organizations know that economic downturns are how David slays Goliath and where the Fortune 500 "turns over." 

Business is picking up...two clients in the last week...looking for ways to organize, define and leverage a formal innovation maturity management plan.  These two companies are both just outside of the Fortune 500...for now.

Don't forget that I am still giving away free copies of our Introduction to IM2-Innovation Maturity Model eBook until March 31st, 2008.  Download your copy today!

Don't know about many of you...but this comes way too close to reality for me...enjoy!!!

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Tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians (so legend has it), passed on from generation to generation, says that, "When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."

However, in the corporate world, more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:

•        Buying a stronger whip.

•         Changing riders.

•         Giving horse and rider a good beating

•         Re-structuring the dead horse's reward scale to contain a performance-related element.

•         Suspending the horse's access to the executive grassy meadow until performance targets are met.

•         Making the horse work late shifts and weekends.

•         Scrutinizing and clawing back a percentage of the horse's past 12 months expenses payments.

•         Appointing a committee to study the horse.

•         Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride horses.

•         Convening a dead horse productivity improvement workshop.

•         Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.

•         Reclassifying the dead horse as living-impaired.

•         Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.

•         Outsourcing the management of the dead horse.

•         Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.

•         Providing additional funding and/or training to increase dead horse's performance.

•         Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.

•         Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.

•         Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.

•         Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

                                                              

Jeffrey Phillips of OVO Innovation and the Innovate On Purpose Blog has recently released a great book called Make Us More Innovative for current...would-be...soon-to-be Innovation Managers, Innovation Champions or anyone else who suddenly finds themselves in an innovation management role.

Not everyone has the benefit of years and years of innovation management, creative problem solving, organizational creativity or idea generation experience like myself, Jeffrey and many others have.  To help these "newbies" catch up, this book provides many of the basics of managing innovation and provides a great fundamental knowledge base from which to build.

The book mentions that it is best to leave the true "heavy lifting" of establishing an innovation management system to the experts, and I would strongly concur.  This is why Innovation Consultants like myself, Jeffrey and many others exist.  Allow us to use our vast experience to accelerate your innovation program benefits and success.

If you are interested in purchasing Make Us More Innovative, you can find it at Amazon, Barnes&Noble and iUniverse online.

I got my copy from iUniverse and it worked great!

If you are interested in learning more about Make us more Innovative, see the book website at www.makeusmoreinnovative.com

Innovation 1-on-1: Chris Heatherly, VP of Technology and Innovation, Disney Consumer Products, Walt Disney Company

Enjoy!!!

"The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen all at once." - Albert Einstein

I have been giving this topic quite a bit of thought recently.  Time...such a precious, yet fleeting commodity. 

Mention innovation, new products, ideas, creativity or brainstorming in most organizational settings today and you are going to hear, "We don't have the time." 

Organizations are starting to comprehend the important competitive growth advantage that ideas and innovation provide and yet, they don't have the time to put a program together.  Yes, its important...but there's too much on our plate already.

They also don't have the time to allow people to sit and think of new ideas or the future of the organization.  Too much going on.  Gotta get those numbers up this quarter.

Even if somehow, some way, an idea was able to get some attention, no one has the time to move the idea into reality.  People are nothing more than percentages of resource availability.  Fractionalized percentages of resource availability at that.  This project needs attention...that project needs attention...and when do I work on my real job?

Ideas need time.  Creativity needs time.  Exploration needs time.  Piloting/Prototyping needs time.  Innovation needs time.  Implementation needs time.

In a world where we have reduced ourselves to fractionalized percentages of resource time, working 20% on this project, 40% on that project, 30% on core work and 10% in useless meetings, why are we shocked when quality suffers, rework costs are high and growth (if it exists at all) is incremental?

Why do we act surprised when morale, joy, passion and engagement are lost?

And...where do we expect the growth we all predict on our fancy financials slides, born only from new ideas, to come from?

Make the tough decisions.  Prioritize.  Stop some things.  Start some new things.  Demand thought time.  Demand future vision from everyone. 

CREATE TIME!!!

TODAY!!!

Coming Soon...New Product & Service Announcements!!! Watch this space for an upcoming announcement regarding our new products and services for 2008 including Innovation Basic Training opportunities, an Innovation Boot Camp for Executives, a new Organizational Model for Innovation, new updates to the IM2 Innovation Maturity Model and a host of other integrated Organizational Creativity and Innovation Management Solutions!!!

One of my "Current Clients" has just become a "Former Client."  It happens. 

Changes in leadership...changes in strategy...changes in the market.  It happens.

"Imagine the Future" has been replaced with "Follow The Leader."  It happens.

"Innovation Management" has been replaced with "Process Improvement."  It happens.

"What Could Be" has been replaced with "That's Too Risky."  It happens.

"What Feels Right" has been replaced with "That Can't Be Measured."  It happens.

"Finding Another Way" has been replaced with "Exceeds Variance Limit."  It happens.

"Exploration" has been replaced with "Follow The Process."  It happens.

Luckily, for every client I have lost due to this kind of change in direction, I have gained three new clients.  Are you one of the next three who gets it?