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Making Innovation Personal: Resolutions For 2018, Part 1

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Want to be part of an innovative organization? Change yourself first!

It’s hard for me to believe that any leader can inspire a more innovative organizational culture without themselves becoming a role-model for innovative behavior. This does not mean being “the source of ideas,” but, rather,  being a supporter of innovation as a verb, characterizing the way we behave, rather than a noun, which typically applies to somebody else who is “responsible” for innovation. When innovation is thought of as a verb we are all responsible for it, no matter who we are, or what our role, or title. In short, it’s not enough to speak of innovation as if it were solely a strategic or organizational attribute; we need to make innovation a personal responsibility as well.

In the spirit of making innovation more personal in 2018, I have asked a diverse and interesting set of innovation observers to each share a personal innovation resolution for the coming year. I am delighted that so many accepted my invitation and, given the volume of responses, there will be at least a second part in the new year. For the moment, however, here are some very thoughtful ideas about the necessity of making innovation more personal, and a few ways of getting started at making innovation a verb. In part 2, I will share insights and opinions from a separate set of observers regarding specific practices and experiences.

Ralph-Christian Ohr @ralph_ohr   is a Corporate Innovation and Development Consultant, based in the Canton of St. Gallen, in Switzerland, who is looking at modern innovation capabilities for future-proof organizations. He is also the author of the awarded Integrative Innovation blog. Ralph starts us off with thoughts about how managerial thinking  needs to change if we are to take innovation seriously:

“Innovation as a Lifestyle” and “Personal Reinvention” largely draw on an appropriate foundational thinking process. Leaders seeking to stimulate these personal capabilities in themselves or their people are well-advised to employ and nurture what Roger Martin has characterized as “Design Thinking”, which is the balancing of analytical thinking (focused on reliability and consistency) with intuitive thinking (focused on validity and novelty).

Applying Design Thinking in our lives enables us to explore new opportunities and skills while concurrently pursuing our “daily jobs and tasks”. Moreover, personal exploratory activities can tap into the vast resource of our past experiences. Therefore, let’s start practicing Design Thinking in 2018 to become more innovative and to stay relevant; and, let’s remember, we can’t purely analyze our way to personal growth.

Sergio Monsalve @VCSerge is an Entrepreneurship Lecturer at Stanford University, and Venture Investor at Norwest Venture Partners (full disclosure: he is my son-in-law). Sergio also sees the challenges in changing managerial mindsets and suggests that only by entertaining discomfort will change occur:

Innovating is literally defined as “changing something established.” ... but that is scary for most “established” leaders and it certainly requires them to muster courage.  My advice for future innovators is for them to deliberately do something courageous and outside their comfort zone in 2018.  Many leaders are not effective change agents due to their unwillingness to step out of their routine, or to risk their established positions.  Embracing the ambiguity attached with risk-taking is an absolute must-have skill for today’s successful innovators especially in an age of rapid disruption.

Josie Gibson, @JosieJosieg Co-Founder of The Catalyst Network, based in Melbourne, Australia.

Josie also shares the view that mindset change is not occurring fast enough, or far enough, and makes the point that innovation is essentially a human endeavor, pointing us towards ourselves if we wish to create change:

It's clear most leaders' mindsets haven't shifted to accommodate the new world we’re in. We've been trapped in thinking innovation is about a technology or process when it's a human endeavor, a social activity to create new value together.

It's helpful to think of innovation as a practice rather than a process. With complex opportunities, there's no neat boundary, owner or end point. Of course we need tools and processes to make things happen, but a process won't help us experience the world differently. 'Practicing' innovation will.

In 2018, commit to doing two things as part of your practice: 1. ask questions to generate possibilities, not solve problems. This is harder than it sounds. And, 2. ensure you enlist people whose way of thinking, skills and life experiences are very different from your own. That's not always comfortable but it's vital. Work harder to get genuine diversity in the room.

Shaun Coffey @shauncoffey is an experienced company director and Chief Executive of a variety of Australian and New Zealand private and public organizations. He is CEO of Shaun Coffey & Associates based in Brisbane, Australia.

Shaun also sees innovation as essentially a social phenomenon and speaks to the importance of “being present” as a leader in such conditions:

Be present every time you engage with your people.  You never know when you will be doing something for the last time, so made the most of every moment, every exchange, every meeting, every conversation.  Your actions here and now set up your team for success – your people want your attention now, not sometime in the future.  Work in the moment and be decisive; it is your best chance to make a difference.

Bill Fischer @bill_fischer

Finally, I’d like to add my own resolution to this opening discussion. In the spirit of the contributions that have proceeded this, and with the belief that innovation is essentially a social phenomenon, I want to champion generosity as a leadership attribute.  It is apparent, in the 21st century, that in a networked society no one needs any longer to take on the full-burden of innovation by themselves. Being open and inclusive is the new key to succeeding in the future. Essential to achieving such success is the gift of generosity. I think that this is almost absent in most managerial competency listings, yet so important at a time when we seem to be losing it as an important value in so many of our societies

I am going to be try to practice generosity in all I do, whether it be recognition, rewards or opportunities. Among the first questions I will ask are: who else can I involve? And, how can I help make such involvement work best for them. for all of us? I hope that success in the next stage of my career will be measured by the success of my associates.