by John Brooker | Apr 1, 2016 | Collaborate, Develop Opportunities, Facilitate meetings, Free Articles, Innovate
“Encourage people to innovate, but employ a metaphorical guillotine to restrict discussion on innovation.” John Brooker Here are seven metaphors to help you as a Creative Leader, drive innovative behaviour. 1. Lift the veil – why does your organisation want to innovate? If your top management team plans to launch an innovation initiative, have them answer three questions first: a. What value will it bring in business terms? Will it drive more revenue, save costs, differentiate you from the competition, or improve staff retention? How will you quantify this in business terms? b. What will be the signs of progress? Recently, I reviewed for a government organisation a list of proposed measures to show innovation progress. Primarily they were input measures, (e.g. the number of people trained, the number of innovation champions appointed). Input measures often show you have built an innovation bureaucracy, not that you are more innovative. Ensure there are output measures too, e.g. the number of propositions implemented and achievement of business value. c. What will tell you this initiative is sustainable? You can create a one-off innovative proposition fairly easily. How do you recognise your organisation is sustainably innovative? Clues might be that, you identify opportunities regularly, create propositions frequently, kill poor propositions quickly and explain why you have done this. To do this you need a creative yet structured model for innovating at the front end. Creative Leader Tip: Ensure your leadership team thinks through these questions before you start an initiative. 2. Focus the lens – what type of innovation does your organisation require? Recently, a colleague and I visited a potential client...
by John Brooker | Mar 28, 2016 | Collaborate, Develop Opportunities, Facilitate meetings, Innovate, Overcome Challenges, Tools
Have you ever rejected a solution from people on your team because it was not well thought through or not clear enough? Despite being a good idea, one reason a solution can fail to gain support or funding is because the innovator fails to either explain it properly or convince decision makers they have thought it through thoroughly. This can lead to negative responses, critical questioning and a chastened innovator. For the company, it can mean potentially good solutions lost and perhaps fewer ideas submitted in the future. In this short and practical article we explain how people on your team can develop a clear and powerful statement that enables the relevant people to understand it and make a sound decision on whether to proceed. This is an initial presentation of the solution, not a business case, something As a general rule, the proposition statement should include the following points: Specify who the problem impacts State what problem the proposition solves Describe the solution, explaining how it solves the problem (benefits) and how much of the problem it solves Explain how it differs from competing products These four points provide a statement that explains the basic proposition. Now to appraise and hone that proposition people need to: Show the issues and risks to be managed State who else has a significant stake in this solution, how interested they might be in it, what their level of influence is and how likely are they to use it Be clear on any data / information needed to progress Suggest solutions to overcome difficulties Identify the resources required to progress the solution...
by John Brooker | Mar 28, 2016 | Collaborate, Develop Opportunities, Facilitate meetings, Innovate, Overcome Challenges, Tools
“Before thinking outside the box, perhaps you might make the box bigger.” John Brooker Understanding and widening the boundaries of a situation can help you to create more options and potentially, better solutions… When I am facilitating workshops, I ask people what they want me to do to make the workshop outstanding. Someone will usually say, “Help us think outside the box”, i.e. facilitate the team to be more creative. While “thinking outside the box” is a valid request, I like to respond, “Before you think outside the box, how might you make the make the box bigger?” This question usually produces puzzled looks and no wonder, as “think outside the box” derives from the old nine dot puzzle of how to connect all nine dots with a single unbroken line. No matter how big you make that box, you are still going to have to go outside the box to obtain a result. To avoid confusion, let me explain that in my response, I mix box metaphors. My metaphorical box has six sides. It is a constricted thinking space people create in their mind because they: Apply “rules” that may not apply for this new situation, e.g., “HQ pay for training.” Make assumptions that may prove unfounded, e.g., “There is no budget for this.” Bring their biases and prejudices to the situation, e.g., “That level of staff could not be trusted to do that.” Allow their egos to impact upon the situation, e.g., “Only we can do that.” Take a narrow perspective on the situation, e.g., “Our cost centre can’t afford this.” Unnecessarily shorten their thinking time etc. e.g.,...
by John Brooker | Mar 28, 2016 | Collaborate, Develop Opportunities, Facilitate meetings, Innovate, Overcome Challenges, Tools
Over the weekend I read an article in the newspaper, about how the police in Spain intercepted a stash of cocaine worth around £240 million, concealed in a consignment of charcoal. My immediate thought was that the criminals had hidden it amongst the charcoal, but I was wrong. They had mixed the cocaine with glue and formed it into a resin. From the resin, they had made slats that looked like wood and made freight pallets from the slats. The charcoal sat in bags on the pallets. To process the pallets back into cocaine, they had set up a chemical company in Spain. Other drug smugglers have hidden the drug in hollowed out pineapples, woven 45 kilos of heroin into a rug and filled vanilla wafers with cocaine instead of cream. These examples of innovation in packaging and product demonstrate that the drug trafficking business has a positive side; it is innovative and I wondered what innovative leaders could learn from this case? Here are two examples: 1. Factors that Drive Innovators A first lesson from the drug traffickers is an idea of some of the factors that drive people to innovate. They: · Fear financial loss (if goods are intercepted) · Want to avoid regulatory restrictions (it’s against the law) · Do it for the fun of it · Like the intellectual challenge · Want to avoid “me too” competition (from other drug smugglers using the same ploys) · Have had their options reduced (because law enforcers know many options for smuggling). From this lesson, two questions for you as an innovative leader are: · What...
by John Brooker | Sep 6, 2015 | Collaborate, Develop Opportunities, Facilitate meetings, Free Articles, Innovate
“As innovation becomes a management discipline, there is a risk that it is seen as the end rather than the means.” John Brooker How can you start to innovate? A while ago I was travelling quite a lot, delivering training courses for a client in Asia. One Saturday, I arrived at Beijing airport and went to the ATM to withdraw cash on my UK debit card. I entered the PIN, a few seconds later the cash appeared and I got a little kick of satisfaction. Every time I use a cash dispenser abroad I get the same kick because I led the original team that made it possible for people to get cash from machines throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa using a Visa Card. No matter that it was almost thirty years ago when we started, that feeling returns. It is this feeling that I want to pass on to others when I facilitate workshops; to get that great kick when something you have put a lot of creativity and effort in to achieves successful fruition. So here are six tips to help you innovate: Don’t talk about innovation. Innovate! Don’t learn to innovate. Innovate to learn. Don’t leave it up to a few. Have everyone innovate. If THEY won’t innovate, innovate yourself. Don’t boil the ocean. Start small and scale up. Commit to move the proposition forward. Tip 1 – Don’t Talk About Innovation. Innovate! As innovation becomes a management discipline, there is a risk that it is seen as the end rather than the means. Many organisations talk too much about innovation but don’t innovate. In...
