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Air-cover: Innovation's secret ingredient

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Among the leadership traits which have made Steve Jobs so effective as an innovator has been the ability to create an inspiring vision for talented people to work towards and then get out of their way so that they could make full-use of their talents in pursuit of this vision. While he has always been associated with strong "top-down" leadership, much of it has been applied in the service of releasing innovative energies found towards the "bottom" of the organization. He was able to use his position of power within Apple to both energize innovation project teams, set them loose, and then, if necessary, protect them. The result was often that most magical of innovation outcomes, when the assembled talent believes that they have absolute freedom to apply their energies and skills, while senior management believes that it is in complete control; both at the same time! Jobs did this, with varying degrees of self-restraint in his involvement, with the Lisa, Macintosh and iPod projects, at least, and in each case not only changed the technical worlds of which they were a part, but also launched the careers of the next generation of innovation leaders in the industry. This partnering between a visionary senior executive, and a sort of renegade band of innovators, is not a new phenomenon, but while powerful, is often invisible,  and frequently a "secret ingredient," for those organizations savvy enough to support it, in the realization of successful innovation.

Henry Hudson, the twice-failed 17th century explorer, and yet once again enroute to discover what is today's Manhattan, had such a partner in 72 year old Emanuel van Meteren. The very young and gifted, but unknown, Sid Caesar, en route to discovering modern television entertainment in the mid-20th century had the much-seasoned Max Liebman, as well as Sigourny Weaver's father, Pat, as his partners. Robert Oppenheimer, the free-spirited and controversial physicist who ran the scientific-side of the Manhattan Project, had the straight-laced and utterly conventional Brigadier General Leslie R. Groves as his partner. Edward R. Murrow, who was inventing broadcast journalism during the second World War by breaking many of the traditional rules, had CBS rule-maker William S. Paley as his partner. Nestlé's Nespresso-pod team had senior marketing executive Camillo Pagano as their partner. And, of course, Apple's iPod team had Steve Jobs. With each and every one of these well-known innovation projects -- Hudson, Caesar, Oppenheimer, as well as the Nespresso and iPod project teams -- the partnering relationship was often invisible, frequently spontaneous, and the case can be made that it was the older and more "senior" associate/colleague/mentor who ultimately made the innovation success possible.

What these lesser-known partners -- van Meteren, Liebman & Weaver, Groves, Paley, Pagano, and [the considerably better known] Jobs -- provided, most importantly, was "air cover": the ability, within large, complex, and typically highly-political organizations, to encourage, authorize, license, and support risky project undertakings; those daring, sometimes "crazy" initiatives that more "rational" approval processes would undoubtedly deny, but which, if they work, have the potential to change the world. Without such "invisible" players in the innovation game, some of our most surprising advances would never have taken place; or, more likely, would never have even begun!

In the early 17th century, transatlantic exploration was still very much a risky proposition, and for the Dutch West Indies corporation to bet on a two-time loser such as Henry Hudson required someone with sufficient influence within the organization to support this project -- this was van Meteren. Max Liebman was respected enough within the entertainment world of the mid-20th century to be able to nurture and support Sid Caesar's unorthodox ideas about comedy entertainment, but it was Pat Weaver who was high enough in the power hierarchy of the National Broadcasting Company [NBC] to run Caesar's show in a prime-time television slot without the financial support of a commercial sponsor. General Groves' confidence in Oppenheimer allowed him to "run interference" when it came to protecting Oppenheimer from questions about his security practices within the scientific community, and about his own security clearances, even though Groves' military background was diametrically different from the free-flowing, questioning traditions of science. Bill Paley, the quintessential corporate executive supported Murrow, the abrasive and distant iconoclast, at least for much of his career, allowing him to innovate broadcast journalism in the face of everything from Nazi bombers to vindictive U.S. Senators, without having to worry about his budget, or his job. Nespresso, which ultimately took nearly 20 years to break-even and evolve into a major disruptive innovation for Nestlé, was supported during much of this period by the son of a Roman coffeehouse barista, who had a deep love for the product and a great respect for what it took to do it well, and was senior-enough within in Nestlé to protect such a novel search for a new way of achieving coffee-excellence. And, it was Steve Jobs, himself, who realized that the iPod was essential if Apple was to recover from a nearly disastrous decision to remove music-sharing capabilities [CD reading/burning drives] from the iMac, at the very moment that peer-to-peer sharing of music, largely via swapped CDs, was peaking. Each of these innovation projects was more than a reach.... they were really bold; and for that reason alone had the odds stacked against them. But, in every case, there was a senior partner who took responsibility for authorizing, nurturing, and protecting both the dream and the team, so that the innovation effort had an honest chance of making the breakthrough they were convinced was possible. Such is the power of "air-cover"!

Innovation is never just about good ideas. Especially within large, complex organizations, successful innovation requires political support as well, and this is where "air-cover" is essential. Yet, "air-cover" is not a natural phenomenon. It requires senior executives who are visionary enough to support bold bets; who are informed enough [technically] to be able to verify the soundness of a project proposal; who are self-confident enough to allow others to get on with the work; and who are are energetic enough to interfere in the protection of a project team under attack, when necessary. In each of the cases mentioned above (except in the case of Steve Jobs, who was in the unique position of also being  a founder of the company and thus very much involved in a number of project origins), the appearance of the "air-cover" provider was unanticipated, largely spontaneous, and usually invisible. All of which highlights the need for aspiring innovators, Jobs' successors included, to recognize that leadership plays many roles that "air-cover" is too important to be left to chance.

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Bill Fischer's latest book is The Idea Hunter (co-authored with Andy Boynton) (Jossey-Bass, 2011).

Bill Fischer can be followed on Twitter @bill_fischer