No one can innovate alone

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barnraisingThink of some of the most iconic ancient innovations: the wheel, the arrowhead, pottery. In each case some one knew how to make such a thing, because they were mentored by some one before them knowledgeable in the craft. Each learned a skill which enabled them to replicate a thing of value, hone their skills, and ideally advance the technology to a higher state – perhaps make the wheel lighter, the pottery more resilient to persistent heat.

But who knows how to craft a camera, or a computer mouse, or a compact fluorescent bulb? Indeed, no one does. Because each of these (and many more) current technological artifacts are concoctions of ideas. A point-and-click camera is (as Matt Ridley puts it) a confection of ideas – silicon, microchips, plastics, lenses, batteries, various refined metals! – all mashed together performing a feat of alchemy that represents a camera as we know it. To take snapshots at our children’s birthdays.

The battery alone is an astonishing marvel. And what individual knows how to make a battery? Well, no one person does. It takes far more than a village. From the miners digging for nickel to the offshore rig operators extracting oil to refine into plastics that are carried in trucks and ships around the world, it takes fractions of mindshare from millions of humans to produce a camera as we know it.

The point is: since it’s nigh impossible to claim credit for singular innovation, we’re at our best when we recognize the deep contributions of all in the value chain which precedes – and follows – whatever we contribute to. The most innovative leaders know how to harness available technology, envision potential future, and enlist others into action.

Insourcing Innovation

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GE is in the process of overhauling design of their signature appliances. And starting to manufacture them in Kentucky instead of Mexico and China.

“So a funny thing happened to the GeoSpring (water heater) on the way from the cheap Chinese factory to the expensive Kentucky factory: The material cost went down. The labor required to make it went down. The quality went up. Even the energy efficiency went up.”

– Charles Fishman

In 1951 GE began construction on what would become the largest domestic appliance manufacturing plant in the United States, aptly named Appliance Park, zip code 40225. Housing the appliance division of GE, and featuring the first-ever use of a computer (a gigantic UNIVAC) in a manufacturing setting, appliance park became the centerpiece of GE’s appliance production division and within just a couple years employed 16,000 people. By 1973, twenty years after opening its doors, the immense plant, with its mile-long parking lot, and its own fire department, employed over 23,000 people and turned out washing machines, dryers, refrigerators, and other appliances to Americans eager to embrace the conveniences of technology.

Within another just ten years, by 1984 the plant had been nicknamed Strike City for the constant divisive and productivity-killing strikes that were pervasive, and the working population had dropped back to 16,000 workers, then fell steadily through the 1990s as GE continued to outsource manufacturing to Mexico and China, until finally a mere 1,863 manufacturing employees remained at Appliance Park, KY in 2011.

Then, an interesting thing happened in February, 2012. GE fired up a manufacturing line in Building 2 of Appliance Park to build high tech, low energy, water heaters than had been made in China for over a decade. And then, a month later, in Building 5, another assembly line opened up to begin assembling fancy refrigerators, previously assembled in Mexico.

The GeoSpring was re-engineered to have 20% fewer parts, and is now produced in Kentucky in 80% less time than it was made in China. Partly because of the device design, but also because they have redesigned the workplace and assembly lines themselves. For example, their revamped dishwasher assembly line requires only 20% of the physical space previously required and reduces production time by 68%

By the end of 2012, GE expects to have over 3,600 professionals employed at Appliance Park, KY including salaried designers, engineers, and IT professionals. These product designers work hand-in-hand with the assembly line employees to ensure the design conveys efficiently to the actual construction process. As Jeff Immelt writes in the March, 2012 edition of Harvard Business Review, “At Appliance Park we have torn down functional silos and replaced them with a “one team” mentality. Designers, engineers, and assembly-line workers together determine the best way to meet their goals; they own the metrics.”

Meanwhile, on December 6, 2012 CEO Tim Cook announced to NBC that Apple intends to invest $100 million dollars to begin producing a line of Apple products within in the United States in 2013 for similar reasons.

Adequate Performance Gets a Generous Severance Package

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“There is no policy requiring clothing, but no one comes to work naked.
Lesson: You don’t need policies for everything”

Be the market surprise instead of being surprised by the market. Increase the density of talent in your organization faster than the complexity increases around you. In the same way you can’t control the forces that affect your company, to attract the best and the brightest you may not want to try to control your top talent either. Certainly companies should support them, grow them, challenge them, and reward them. But increasingly companies are finding deeper talent and bigger results by relinquishing control over them.

This trend in giving employees autonomy puts the focus on results rather than on punching a time clock. Netflix has recognized that as a business which never sleeps, they in fact have no standard working hours for the company, and therefore should extend that analogy to respect the discretionary decision-making of their employees. So Netflix treats them like adults. As a slide presentation on their website describes, Netflix pays above-average in the industry, provides generous benefits and works to “attract and retain stunning colleagues.” How and when you get your work done is up to you, but they expect results.

“Adequate performance gets a generous severance package” reads their website. Clearly they create an environment intended to gain the best and brightest people but as they advertise, they function more like a high performance professional sports team, not like a family which forgives every fault. Managers have a test they perform when evaluating performance. They ask themselves this question, “Which of my people, if they told me they were leaving, would I work hard to keep at Netflix?” If someone doesn’t satisfy that question, they are offered the generous severance package to open up that position for a star performer.

To punctuate their focus on results, not hours, their presentation goes on to say, “Sustained A-level performance with minimal effort, is rewarded with greater responsibility, and great pay.” By focusing on results rather than mere presence or compliance, employees are more likely to feel accountable and less likely to waste the company’s time or money.

Integrate the Human Factor in Your Work

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The profession of radiology has been progressing over the past fifty years in terms of how people are trained, equipment and technology used, and immediacy of feedback. Yet despite these advances, error rates often remain statistically significant and frustratingly high depending on the type of reading performed – bone density, chest radiographs, mammograms, gastrointestinal, and beyond. According to Imaging Economics, the reading error rate can vary from 2% to as high as 20%, depending on the scan, the clinician, the environment, and even the time of day. And up to eighty percent of the errors are perceptual errors. That is, the information was present and shown on the film or scan, but not identified and seen by the radiologist.

Yehonatan Turner, M.D., was a radiology resident at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem in 2008 when he decided to experiment with humanizing the process of reading radiology scans, to learn what affect it might have on the quality of the reading and the error rate of the clinicians. He and his colleagues performed an experiment in which they asked 267 patients for their permission to be photographed before their CT scans. A Computed Tomography scan is a more detailed X-Ray exam that focuses on a specific part of the body and yields a more detailed image of what’s inside the body.

Those 267 patient photos were submitted within a total of 1,137 CT examinations and would automatically be presented to the radiologist when evaluating the scan. Seventeen radiologists performed the readings and the results were quite surprising:
   • 80% of incidental findings were not reported when the photo was omitted with the scan
   • Radiologists reported a greater sense of empathy and care when evaluating the scan
   • Duration of scan evaluation did not increase

Anecdotal comments included, “The patient photograph prompted me to relate in more detail to the CT” and “It enabled me to feel more of a physician.”

In other words, accuracy went up, empathy went up, sense of connection with the patient went up, and there was no additional time required. This is an example of innovation by connecting with the end result – with the purpose of the work.

Create Value Before You Create Risk

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It can be an exciting time when we decide to initiate a project, build an application, or design a compelling solution. The idea may look brilliant and compelling in our minds and we may feel the urge to tell the world about our latest endeavor. Hang on a minute. Telling people we intend to do something is different than having something to show them. And it’s a long way from having actually done something. Telling others of our intent may be valuable to us by creating an external motivation. That is, if we tell others of our intent, we may feel compelled to follow through on our stated promise. But that expressed intention has little value to those we told and can create a false expectation. Plus, it’s hard for anyone to spread the good news if there’s nothing to show.

Start by creating value. Instead of telling someone what you are considering, or committing to, show them what you’ve already started. Show them the work in progress. Give them something to anchor on. For two reasons:
– What you say you will do, will likely change once you start doing it – for market reasons, design reasons, budget reasons, etc.
– Others understand and respond better to hard evidence, than words.

In other words, speak with action not words. Your action, your prototype, your first cut at it makes for a much more vivid and interesting discussion and collaboration once people have something to anchor the discussion on.

The other powerful and compelling reason to start with action, instead of talk, is that once you get in motion and actually produce something of value, other people will recognize and respond to that creation. In the best circumstances those people you show your work to will contribute, collaborate and spread the word about what you or your team is working on and it will drive energy and awareness to your project. It’s much more difficult and less inspiring to spread the word about what someone intends to do, as opposed to share what you and your team have actually started to work on.

Dealing with Innovation Blockers

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Ever get excited about an idea and have it demolished, shot down, blown up, ridiculed, or just ignored? Here are a few of the innovation blocker personas you might find in your workplace, and a few ideas to get around, jump over, or jedi mind-trick them.

The Bureaucrat builds consistency, and sets limits to ensure rule adherence, but has gone a little overboard. This persona’s favorite quotes include “Has this been approved?”, “Fill out this form,” or “That’s not in this budget cycle.” Any organization that aspires to scalability and developing size beyond the fun start-up phase, requires a level of protocol and operational systems thinking, which necessarily means implementing processes and procedures. Everyone in such an organization can’t simply “wing it” on their own personal path to developing innovation. However, the Bureaucrat has gone too far.

Here are a few tips for working with the Bureacrat:

  • Prepare before going to them. Write down what you believe you need and be as specific as possible. You won’t be able to anticipate all of the red tape and paperwork, but you can probably predict much of it. Compile all of the evidence and information you think you might need and have a paper trail to back up your efforts.
  • Participate in the process. Don’t be content if they say they will get back to you. Ask what steps they need to go through and then request to participate in the process. Because you are the primary stakeholder, we may be able to chase down information faster.
  • Check in. They might give you a vague answer like, “It takes between five and ten days.” Tell them you will check back in five days, then do it. Your punctuality will send a message you expect the same from them. To them, your persistence will elevate the importance of your project.

The Wimp Sponsor is a project champion who lacks attention, interest, or clout and whose favorite lines include “Can you rework the business plan on this?” and “Let’s study this some more.” Forever terrified of social risk, and losing political capital, your Wimp Sponsor is either unable or unwilling to champion your efforts. Consumed with cowardice, these impotent and ineffective sponsors need to be identified and addressed from both above and below.

  • If you work for a Wimp: Take the initiative. You aren’t likely to get permission or have them ask you to take action. Remember they’re a wimp, so be proactive. Take the first few steps in your initiative and report on your progress. The Wimp isn’t likely to ask you to stop or retrace your steps. They just don’t have the courage to ask you to move forward because they don’t want to be responsible for your actions
  • If you manage a Wimp: Create specific targets and deadlines together, but let them lead the way. Wimps often know their weakness, and it’s best to allow them to state out loud what they believe needs to be done. Ask them these simple three questions: “What are you trying to accomplish that requires more than just you? Who would be the best people to help? What stands in your way?” By answering those three questions out loud, you will help the Wimp build their own accountability and publicly take the first step in developing a successful project initiative.

The Power Monger believes power and resources are more important than results. The Power Monger has already achieved some level of power and status. Favorite quotes are “I’ve already thought of that,” “I’m already doing that in my group,” and “Hope you can do that with your own people.” The Power Monger operates from a viewpoint of scarcity. They believe there aren’t enough resources to go around and it’s important to hoard and protect assets and information.

  • Start with praise. The Power Monger is likely to be sensitive to criticism and to reject new ideas. The first step is to use gracious, yet authentic, flattery. False flattery, although effective, propagates a dishonest work environment. Find areas of excellence in this power hungry person and give them honest and direct praise for it.
  • Use the power of suggestion. There is a famous scene in Star Wars in which the young Luke Skywalker and his mentor Obi-wan Kenobi are at a guard check point in a land speeder. The Imperial stormtroopers are in search of droids that are with them, but Obi-wan uses a Jedi mind trick to make the stormtrooper in charge believe and say, “These aren’t the droids you’re looking for…. He can go about his business.” The power monger needs to feel as if the idea came from them. Instead of dictating or directing your ideas, pose them as questions.

Bureaucrats, Wimps, and Power Mongers are common foes to the innovation champion. But remember this before you go looking to ID these people. Start by assuming the best intentions of everyone around you. Whether meek, powerful or simply pushing paper around, when we first assume the best of people they will often rise to the occassion and reveal the best version of themselves. Expect the best and back it up with a good offensive strategy.

Would your product really be missed?

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“In category after category, companies have gotten so locked into a particular cadence of competition that they appear to have lost sight of their mandate – which is to create meaningful grooves of separation from one another. Consequently, the harder they compete, the less differentiated they become…Products are no longer competing against each other; they are collapsing into each other in the minds of anyone who consumes them.”
– Youngme Moon, author of Different

Several times in my life I have been a part of creating and launching successful and original products. And each time we’ve never paid much attention to what anyone else was doing.

The first successful launch was in 1993, when my father Hal had a crazy notion to take content experts into television studios and broadcast live their classroom presentations, and use phone and fax machines for interactivity. Insane. Who would do such a thing? Who would buy it? He very nearly conjured the idea out of thin air. He reasoned that instructors could reach more audiences using television technology, and people with satellite dishes would pay for learning at a distance. Reasonable extrapolation, but it wasn’t modeled against an existing business he knew of.

After over a year into the effort we were contacted by companies and groups who were creating (or had created) just such a learning service. As you might imagine, since we never “benchmarked” ourselves against what anyone else had done, we were busy making our own mistakes. With persistence, and many mistakes, it worked. We still create live, satellite-delivered (well, mostly webcast-delivered) presentations today.

The first colossal failure came when we did try to copy what another company was doing. We discovered after a few years that there were entire digital satellite networks dedicated to delivering learning content. National Technological University (still exists but the network folded), PBS, The Business Channel (ran out of funding), RTN Group (folded, and yes, that domain is for sale…), had all ventured into the business of building real-time digital satellite networks and failed. We figured we would win because we were smaller, faster, more nimble, could operate more cheaply. All of these things were true. The problem was that no matter how cheaply we could deliver the service, it didn’t matter because no one was buying.

The problem with head-to-head competition now is that since the technical ability to emulate and copy someone else is so easy, it’s hard to differentiate. In an earlier time, companies could develop a proprietary platform, technology, or capability, and lead with that advantage for some time, possibly years, before anyone could catch up. Now, technology is the great equalizer. Whatever you can dream up, someone else can copy. And if you follow this treadmill, it leads inevitably to feature explosion and product augmentation. The trick is to do something your competition isn’t willing to do. The trick is to take that chance that no one else is willing to take, precisely because it hasn’t been tried. Only if you are willing to wildly fail, can you wildly succeed.

Harvard professor Youngme Moon, in her book Different, describes those products and companies that learn to thrive in this world of easy equivalence, as those companies who are willing to swim against the tide of incremental improvement and feature addition. She describes these successful products as “lopsided.” That is, they accentuate what the rest of the pack is unwilling to emphasize due to perceived risk. The result of the copy-cat economy is that while product developers may be able to tell you the nuances that distinguish their products from everyone else’s, the truth is no one cares.

In the words of Jim Collins, the real question you want to answer is: If your company went out of business tomorrow, would anybody really miss it?

Treat books as conversations

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“John Adams’ favorite form of conversation was an argument. He thought that arguments were the only form of conversation that really forced you into truth”
– Joseph Ellis

Over time we consistently find inconsistencies of advice. One minute we need a high-fat diet, the next it causes cancer. One decade we are advised to give out esteem trophies to every child who makes an appearance, the next decade we discover it curbs their appetite for hard work and continuous improvement. Most recently I engaged one top creative thinker who advised that team leaders should arrive at meetings with strict and clear agendas, ideally have only one clear decision to make as a team, and limit the meetings to 45 minutes. Five years ago I had an interaction with another business best-selling guru who advised team members should set the agenda during the first few minutes of the meeting, and the conversation should primarily be about information-sharing, which would naturally encourage team members to collaborate independently.

I’ve tried both meeting tactics and I’ve found that while neither are inherently wrong, I have developed my own preferences. Contrary messages are everywhere. I don’t believe in definitive models, but I do believe there are certain truths and value to be found in most ideas and conversations. If I read anything called “The Nine Immutable Truths of Success” or the “The Six Definitive Steps to Greatness” I react with deep skepticism, yet probably read it anyway because I’m curious and believe there are threads of value within.

Remain constantly inquisitive, and find the bits and pieces that resonate with you and put them to work. Many ideas and advice from credible sources are worth your energy and adoption to the point of realizing value. And then reach again to find, apply and reinvent again.

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds…Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Incentivize Innovation that Escalates Me to We

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We do this constantly in our work: we figure out macros and hacks that streamline and accelerate our work. A routine we might perform numerous times a day, becomes a habit we learn how to tweak and accelerate and perform faster to increase our own performance.

But what if our organizational cultures incentivized people to conjure hacks and macros that accelerated the work of the team, of the entire groups we collaborate with?

I had an interview with the VP of HR for a leading consultancy in India. He described a practice there to incentivize bigger thinking innovation we can all emulate. If an associate there figures out a faster, cleaner why of performing a routinized task, they are acknowledged and rewarded. Their work gets better, and the entire team benefits from their elevated capacity.

However, if they develop an innovative new process which lifts the productivity of their entire collaborative team, the recognition and reward is significantly larger. Because now the defining mindset and orientation shifts on what innovation really means. Innovation is now cast in terms of lifting the larger whole, the greater goal and purpose. Instead of being defined as personal and incremental, innovation is recast as the opportunity and expectation that everyone will both think of themselves constantly as part of a larger we.

Here’s an example of that idea in practice borrowed from a fortune 500 financial services company that does just that in spades. I had a cool conversation with their IT leader who encourages professionals on the team to post internally their custom hacks and scripts to a social platform for others to copy and build on. The practice has spurred a friendly cooperative competition among the programmers to post and defend their own cool custom hacks. Then, other pros in the IT group are encouraged to borrow that brilliance and build on these signature scripts, which again elevates the productivity of the greater whole. It encourages personal, creative expression, and it builds a shared network of signature solutions within the group.

Figure out how to not only recognize and incentivize individual creativity and productivity, but also create shared solutions that support everyone around them.

The Speed from Obscurity to Visibility

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“Time is the most important thing that you take from a person and I have to deserve it, give something, and spark some feelings in the viewer.” – Onur Senturk

I’ve been collecting stories about how fast cool, new ideas, innovations, and talents can move from obscurity to world stage. Just a couple years ago Onur Senturk was a fairly anonymous computer graphics “motionographer” posting his own imaginative renderings on public platforms like Vimeo. Well, Vimeo certainly surprised him by naming him winner of their Motion Graphics Vimeo Award. Here is his winning video.

Now he’s been picked up by major studios and has rendered the opening graphics animation for Transformers, John Carter, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, among others. Check it out: