(From Decision, Vol. 5, Issue 5, Oct.-Nov. 2000)

Innovation at Work

By Jeffrey A. Govendo

     Let me begin with this assertion: We are all creative, each and every one of us.

     Now, perhaps you're about to respond with a list of individuals whom you'll assert are distinctly not creative: your accountant, the web designer your firm just dismissed, your brother-in-law… Maybe you've even placed yourself on the list, comforted by the knowledge that you have other strengths such as organizational skills, leadership qualities, or the ability to quickly synthesize complex situations. But creative? Let's leave that to the artists and entertainers, the poets, the storytellers …

     We tend to think of creativity as something possessed by the relatively few, and indeed, if we use only the Mozarts, Picassos, Shakespeares and Edisons of the world as our points of reference, we would be right. But creativity isn't the sole domain of the genius. Creative thinking is the very human act of making mental connections between seemingly dissimilar concepts, and as a result, coming up with something new. The literature is filled with such examples of connection-making and their outcomes: Fleming's spoiled culture that resulted in the discovery of penicillin, Kekule's dream of a snake eating its own tail that enabled him to visualize the benzene ring, the sight of grease floating on water that led to Pilkington's revolutionary method of manufacturing plate glass, to name several. But such discoveries are not limited to the relatively few instances noted in history and folklore. They can and do occur for all of us: witness the occasional (or for some, more than occasional) "Ah-ha!" we've all experienced in coming up with a novel idea or surprise solution to a problem, often when we least expected it.

     If this is true - that everyone has this creative capacity - it has powerful implications for the innovation potential of companies in which they work. For what is innovation if not applied creativity; that is, making new connections in order to come up with a product or service, or a way of conducting business, that breaks new ground? And, what more potent combination for innovation than your employees' own creativity, together with their expertise and deep knowledge of your business?

     Yet, for all this innovation armament, it's been my observation that relatively few employees use it, because so little credence is given to the creative side of the equation. So often when someone has a fresh idea or a new approach to consider, it is rejected out of hand because some aspect of it doesn't fit the "way we do things." No attempt is made to tease out the positive elements or problem-solve around the negatives; it is simply dismissed because something about the concept renders it unfeasible in the evaluator's opinion. This happens not only between managers and their reports, but peer to peer also. It is a very pervasive dynamic. In an environment where this occurs often enough, people "learn" to avoid offering new ideas, and eventually fail to recognize they even have new ideas. These are the folks who refer to themselves as "not particularly creative."

     To be fair, this didn't start at work. Most of us began learning at an early age - at home, in elementary school, in our social circles - that imprecise, divergent thinking was not the way to win points. The heartiest accolades were won by knowing the "right" answer or, in considering other people's ideas, being able to point out the mistakes. It is a mode of thinking - or mind set - that still serves us well in many important situations, but not at the front end of the innovation process. That's because most every innovation, especially those big ones we think of as breakthroughs, begins with a creative - and therefore highly speculative - idea. By its very nature, the more speculative and untested the idea, the more flawed it will appear. It's easy to find fault with an idea that comes out of one's imagination. If our practice is to evaluate such ideas on the basis of their immediate feasibility, we will of course dismiss them. No doubt this happens thousands of times each day, even in relatively small organizations. And, for every creative idea discarded, there may well be an idea giver wondering if he or she should risk offering another. An organization that is unreceptive to new thinking loses not only ideas, but the idea givers too.

     I have never met an executive who is against the idea of promoting innovation in his/her organization, only those who don't know how. To be sure, there seems a growing appreciation for the value of creative capital within corporations, including those that have come of age in the past decade, as well as older, more established businesses seeking to thrive in the New Economy. But cultivating a more idea-friendly environment requires more than simply good intentions and a nicely-crafted vision statement. The venerable suggestion box, or its many newer electronic variations, is a good way to solicit improvement ideas from those who know the business and its products best. Here again, though, if we're looking to encourage real innovation, the suggestion box is likely to fall short because it's so easy to dismiss the truly divergent ideas, those that don't immediately "make sense" or seem feasible. Most suggestion boxes - and the reward systems that accompany them - have implicit criteria which invite ideas for incremental improvements, but discourage those that cannot be readily implemented or easily understood.

     What I am recommending is a learned process, a particular way of responding to and developing a new and unusual idea which encourages - you might even say forces - the evaluators to remain open-minded while they systematically build feasibility into it. It consists of five steps and begins by just saying "maybe."

Open-minded Evaluation and Development of an Idea

Step 1 - Just say "maybe"
To some, this might sound a bit indecisive. Certainly many situations call for quick decision-making, but in responding to a new or unfamiliar idea, this is a severely limiting response. It cuts us off from a world of possibilities. Instead, make a conscious effort to refrain from the negative response that comes so readily when we're offered a "different" idea. Easier said than done! Most of us have been well-trained to focus on why an idea won't work (we call this "critical thinking"). In this step, try to let go of the usual standards by which you judge an idea, and let intrigue be your main criterion. Ask yourself this: "Putting aside the obvious flaws, is this a notion that somehow fascinates me, arouses my curiosity, or holds my interest for some reason?"

Step 2 - Find the positives
Articulate those aspects or features of the idea that are positive, even if you can't endorse it as a whole. Try to be specific about these. This is an important step, as it establishes a different mind set from the more typical "here's what's wrong" response. It provides a rationale for continuing to work the concept, for letting it live a little longer. More often than not, it also uncovers a surprising number of positive features that would have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Step 3 - Identify areas for further problem solving
Now we get to those objections I asked you hold in abeyance in Step 1. The key here, however, is to think of these and state them as obstacles to overcome, rather than reasons the idea won't work. In the life of a new idea, this is its most vulnerable moment. A negative barrage at this time will certainly kill it. This is not to suggest you gloss over or downplay the real problems associated with the idea, only that you keep it alive by inviting further problem solving against its most troublesome aspects, rather than shooting it full of holes. For example,

"It's too expensive. We can't do this within our budget."
becomes
"Let's get some ideas on how to do this more cost effectively."

Both statements bring up the cost issue. The first, however, is a door-closer. It conveys that there is nothing more to be discussed. The second leaves it open, and invites the problem-solvers in to continue working on the problem.

Step 4 - Generate ideas against the obstacles
Focusing on the most difficult problem first, generate specific ideas to overcome it. Start with the most challenging, since quite often subsequent issues are really a subset of this major concern; solving it frequently takes care of the others too. Keep the ideas coming until you're satisfied that one or more of them adequately addresses the targeted obstacle. Then, repeat this step as necessary with the remaining obstacles until you're satisfied you've developed a concept with enough feasibility to act upon.

Step 5 - Articulate the modified concept and action steps
As a final step, articulate the concept you've developed, making certain to include whatever new elements you incorporated in Step 4 to make it feasible and actionable. Create a list of immediate steps that need to be taken in order to begin implementing the concept.

     It goes without saying that as the idea is being developed; that is, as the means of overcoming obstacles are incorporated into the emerging concept, it changes. Sometimes these are only "tweaks", or they can be quite substantial, even transformational. The modified concept at Step 5 may look very different from what you started with in Step 1. This is perfectly okay, since the goal is not to stay as close to the original as possible, but to develop a concept that is perceived as having value, and can be acted upon.

    The beauty of this approach is that it allows you to start with a very fresh, novel idea, without being stymied by the flaws that will inevitably accompany it. With the understanding that imperfections are simply part of the creativity landscape, your people will feel freer to access more of their total thought processes in coming up with ideas. Put another way, it invites them to flex their creative muscles and put their imaginations to work. Organizationally, it gives rise to a culture which beckons your employees to use more of their inherent creativity in solving difficult business problems and exploiting new opportunities.

     The anthropologist Peter Farb, in Man's Rise to Civilization, said, "An invention or new combination can be successful only if all the elements necessary for the recombination are present in the culture." As we move forward into the new millennium, our business leaders need to look at the organizational cultures they've inherited or created, and determine if they're doing all they can to fully harness the talents of their people.

Copyright © 2000 The Innovative Edge™ Inc.

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