the
innovative LEDGER
An e-Newsletter from The Innovative Edge™ Inc.
Vol.
9, No. 8 - August 2009
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The More Things Stay the Same, the More They Change
By Jeff Govendo
Recently
my wife and I completed our annual 2-week camping trip at Acadia National
Park. For 30 consecutive years we have camped at the same campground
just outside the park, mostly at the very same campsite (a gorgeous
oceanside spot at the northern tip of Somes Sound). We know every
rock, root and tree on the site, how large a shim we'll need to level
the campstove to compensate for the incline, and how many feet of
rope are required to put up our clothesline between the two pines
we always use for that purpose. We have spent well over a year
in the same campground, at the same park, in the same great state
o' Maine.
Exciting
stuff, huh?
You'd
think all this familiarity, this ... sameness ... from year to year,
wouldn't particularly appeal to a guy whose newsletter specifically
touts the virtues of innovation. Doesn't the same scenery and
routine get monotonous? Shouldn't we be looking for something brand
new each time out?
Yet,
we're never bored. We always find things we haven't done before,
or new ways to appreciate those we have. We don't get lost (well,
hardly ever). We know our capabilities on the hiking trails, bike
paths and waterways, and plan our physical activities accordingly.
We know the local eateries, so we don't end up throwing good money
after bad chowder.
So,
free from the need to repeatedly find our bearings and figure out
logistics, we're able to go with the flow and let the surprises come
to us, whether it's siting some unusual wildlife (this year it
was a family of kestrel hawks over the campsite - very noisy), exploring
a new cove or inlet in our kayaks, or taking a day trip to one of
the dozens of postcard villages that dot the Downeast Maine coastline.
Fact
is, you need a predictable base of operations in order to do your
best exploring.
This
is true in business too. As a general rule, employees are at their
best when the company's mission is clear and leadership's decisions
align with it. When doing their jobs well means job security and
the opportunity of advancing. When solid customer relationships result
in a reliable customer base that may expand when new products and
services are introduced.
Hardly
the picture in today's economic environment.
The
big challenge for innovative business leaders today is not a lack
of creativity; it's the unpredictability of their "campsites."
One might ask, with so much doubt and uncertainty over some of the
most basic elements of the workplace, should business leaders even
try to encourage innovative thinking around things like new products,
operational efficiencies or improvements in customer service? Does
thinking about future possibilities even make sense when current reality
seems so tenuous?
In
my opinion, the answer -- emphatically -- is yes. Present conditions
will not last forever. Slowly, we will emerge from the recession (the
latest indicators suggest this may already be happening). And those
companies that have afforded themselves the luxury of thinking about
future initiatives -- even if unable to act on them presently -- will
be better positioned to thrive in the upturn.
Just
as important is the effect on employees of being encouraged to imagine
a more exciting, prosperous future for those companies. All-too-obviously,
the recession has impacted the lives of those who lost their jobs.
But it's also taken a toll on the ones who survived. Workloads are
up, morale in many settings is down. There is survivor's guilt.
What
better antidote than to encourage new thinking around a revitalized
vision for the company? Of being part of something new and better
when things finally do come around?
Innovative
thinking is not only productive and potentially profitable, it's downright
energizing. A shot of adrenaline when most of us can use it.
It
sure beats just hanging around the campsite all day.
