Archive for category: Innovation

Type-T is a phrase coined by Frank Farley, University of Wisconsin, in the early 1990s to describe people who seek out and participate in higher risk activities, and succeed because of these efforts. These are the kinds of people who – if they avoid self-destructive Icarus behaviors (think Keith Moon, Janis Joplin, Howard Hughes, although each in their own right redefined music and entrepreneurialism before flaming out) – go on to invent cars, build businesses, construct new surgical techniques, and much more. Big-T people like Erik Weihenmeyer or Richard Branson redefine our understanding of the limits of possibility, while creating businesses, inspiring people, and building jobs and value. Type-Ts aren’t always about more, faster, higher, but also about reinventing and redefining the how – which leads to invention. Type-Ts are our primary Creators.

Did you know 52% of the IT start-ups in Silicon Valley and 25% of all new business in the U.S. are created by foreign-born nationals like Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, Vietnamese, and other people from around the world who have been coming to the U.S. for decades for the promise of education and entrepreneurialism, and so have earned science, engineering, and math degrees, and created a tremendous amount of U.S. jobs, invention and competitive wealth. Currently, the U.S. has sharply limited the number of H1b visas from 200,000 to 65,000 granted to foreign-born applicants. And currently there is a waiting line of over 1 million applicants. But even if you waited in line for your visa, you might still be turned down for a job from leading U.S. based multinationals due to some newly instituted policies favoring domestic U.S. citizens in hiring review.

The world is changing and if we persist in this xenophobic manner, we will alienate some of the very best and brightest Type-T talent from around the world eager to bring their energy and intellect to bear in the U.S. to create wealth, jobs, opportunity and innovation. Since labor and innovation can be sourced anywhere (see Innocentive), we should be encouraging that innovation and entrepreneurialism to burgeon in the U.S. We need to be attracting the brightest minds, not create motivators for them to take their best ideas back home to Chindia, Brazil, eastern Europe and beyond. When the best young minds leave they don’t just take their bank accounts, but also their energy, creativity and value-creating capacities that create jobs and prosperity.

We need to remain open, embrace intellectual diversity, and participate in the collaborate effort.

Ideas are abundant, but evidently sharing those ideas is pretty scarce in professional environments. Towers Perrin global engagement study reveals sadly only 21% of us would self-describe ourselves as “engaged” in our work. All in and loving it – excited working with our colleagues, dedicated and passionate about the projects we engage in, propelled by a belief that we are actively making a difference, and recognized and rewarded intellectually and emotionally by our efforts.

Gallop extended the engagement inquiry to ask in their survey how readily people actively share ideas collaboratively internally and with external customers. According to them, people who describe themselves as “engaged” in their work are five times more likely to proactively share their best ideas with colleagues and customers. We all have ideas – everything from how to improve a product or process, to where to have lunch. Ideas are power – they have the ability to captivate, energize, and propel innovation, yet if only about 15% of us are willing to share them what’s going on?

Jeffrey Pfeffer at Stanford University suggests one of the primary reasons we don’t share our best ideas is fear of our colleagues’ reaction to them. Pessimism stands out as the easiest mechanism to defend the status quo, and reject any novel idea. And so to avoid the expected objection of any new idea, most people just keep quiet. And wind up keeping their best ideas to themselves out of fear of being dismissed or ridiculed.

In a number of recent conversations I’ve found many people often describe themselves as constrained by process, policy and regimen, and find that their team’s best collaborative efforts is around crises. The suggestion is that the urgency of a crisis makes innovative and novel approaches permissible. In a related conversation one executive said unfortunately their company kneels at the altar of process, and attempts to accomplish any new initiatives frequently involve months of plodding meeting monotony.

Here’s an idea to encourage idea sharing and eliminate pessimism: Build positive anxiety instead of the negative fear-based kind. Imagine you work for Steve Jobs and every day have the nervous energy associated with wanting to perform at a high level, keep your mojo hot and be a major player. So you don’t work for the kind of person who inspires? Focus on encouraging the best in those around you. A rising tide lifts all boats.