Change Talk

I recently had the honor of attending the 175^th Anniversary celebration of Miss Porter’s School, where a high caliber panel of neuroscientists discussed how the mind construes meaning from the arts and ultimately gains joy from the process.

Sure, if you want to forge your culture to become more innovative, dynamic, or customer-oriented, you can work on your values, your people’s behavior, and their mindset.

Women are ambitious. Women are determined. Women are successful. In history as well as in modern life, women have done the impossible – and that, oftentimes, under more than difficult circumstances. 

Several comments on a Linkedin post (The Product of Innovation is Ideas) inspired an examination of the fractal nature of ideas. This train of thought has some interesting implications for innovation management and culture.

I’ve been a student of innovation for more years now than I care to count.  One of the things that has always made the art of innovation so very enjoyable to me is the fact that every discipline in business is of the belief that they “own” innovation, a premise from which they have each devised a particular flavor of innovation – one that mirrors their perspectives on business.  

Design thinking has become a widely accepted and extraordinarily useful methodology for addressing a diverse set of problems and solutions. There's no doubt that its user-centered and iterative approach can radically improve the outcome of new product and service development.

Your organization has a shadow – whether you want it or not. That shadow is always there; it is part of a natural process. However, the shadow is most likely to interfere with your ambitions and strategies during phases of organizational change, and often in unexpected ways.

Company leaders often wish for an organizational culture change, to make their companies more agile, innovative and growth-oriented. What many forget though, is that culture is deeply rooted in the organization’s DNA and unique history. That can make company culture as difficult to change as an individual’s personality.

In working with business leaders around the world, we spend a lot of time talking about the values, philosophies, and cultures they need to guide and nurture innovation in their business.  One of the key questions we are often asked is, “how can we drive engagement and ownership in the business for the new things we are trying to do?” …“how can we put some power into our strategy?”

 I was watching Shark Tank the other day. (Yes, I totally admit to watching pure entertainment TV.) And there they were: the seemingly brutal assessments of the various start-up ideas by the investors: “The idea is great but you don’t seem committed enough. I’m out.”