Overcoming barriers


Innovation allows an organisation to leapfrog its competition. Analysis indicates that those companies that generated 80 per cent or more of their turnover from products and services which are less than five years old have at least doubled their market capitalisation. By comparison, those that produced 20 per cent or less new products have remained stable or declined over this same five-year period. [4]

A production line does not spring to mind as being the place most likely to stimulate the imagination . Yet, by enhancing the role and responsibility of employees , many new ideas have been generated through continuous improvement, quality circles and other similar programs. The important factor is attitude.

In some businesses, the introduction of quality procedures has completely destroyed any innovative spirit because the staff feel their lives are completely dictated by set routine. In others, the company provided real opportunity for input into process development from front-line users, resulting in significant improvements to the working and production environment.

Within our organisations there are many things at an individual and organisational level that can promote or hinder creativity and innovation. Six of the barriers and some possible methods for overcoming them are discussed below.

1. Structure

Modern organisations need to exhibit flexibility and adaptability in order to compete effectively. This requires structures that are more open to change than we have been used to in the past. The image that springs to mind is that of a spider s web. It is constructed of a vast number of interconnected strands. At different times the strands may stretch, tangle or break and need to be repaired. The entire web does not need to be reconstructed, though often it may need to be altered to respond to external factors (for example, if it is built across someone s doorway). There is an incentive, however, to re-establish the web to maintain its overall function.

If an organisation imposes rigid job descriptions and functions, the ability for these links to form and enhance the work-web is negated, knowledge is unable to be shared and creativity cannot flourish.

So how do we provide the opportunity for the creative environment to exist and to be used for the betterment of the organisation? Many organisations now employ intranet sites that encourage the cross fertilisation of ideas and the interaction of staff. Awareness of other activities happening within the organisation, knowing where to seek information and the opportunity to contribute across the organisation are becoming critical for survival.

Individuals

  • Creativity can be improved in any organisation, and at all levels, by identifying:

  • What makes someone come to work.

  • What really excites and motivates people (for example, a commitment to a shared passion, technology, project, customer or service)?

Finding the element that promotes the interaction of people, encouraging the sharing of ideas and individual satisfaction will enhance the creative ability of any group .

By accepting responsibility for an aspect of a project that excites them, individuals can contribute in their area of greatest satisfaction. Recognising people s attributes and interests and allowing them to organise around what they think is interesting is an important step in managing the creative process.

Being able to provide opportunities that stretch individuals away from their comfort zone is also an important factor in allowing the creative process to be maintained and not allowing it or your people to fall into a state of complacency and comfort . Teams ”multiple strands

Good team dynamics are also essential. The fact that all of the people involved in the team are critical to its success will promote exploration, discussion and evaluation of ideas within the group, all targeted at increasing the outcome of the team.

For optimum team creativity and productivity, it is imperative that all members work together and have a coherent understanding of the problem that is being addressed. Showing employees where they fit into the larger picture and defining the roles, responsibilities and authority of the members of the team provides a stable background for ideas management. It is then the manager s role to provide support, guidance, protection, encouragement, promotion and direction.

Internal networks ”supporting strands

The ideal innovative organisation combines the strength of teams with the flexibility of networks to result in an interwoven fabric ”all acting in concert for the achievement of organisational vision and goals.

One method to assist this process is to generate what can be termed ˜creativity markets or portals within the organisation for the exchange of ideas. A simple example of such a creativity market is the use of an organisational intranet to post information and experiences that may be of general benefit. Alternatively, the market can become a site to seek information from those who might be able to help solve problems and test ideas. In its ultimate realisation , the portal becomes a brokerage point for ideas, capturing good ideas from diverse areas, providing an environment that keeps ideas alive , offering a framework for playing with old ideas in new contexts, and becoming a place to put promising concepts to the test.

2. Fear of failure

Perhaps one of the greatest ways in which we stifle creativity is through our bias about what we believe to be achievable and what we fear may not be achievable. Hitting the target may not be possible, but to deny the opportunity to explore or imagine a solution robs us all of a truly significant resource. To counter this requires a culture that can recast negatives into positives, that seeks to find a way to realise the goal rather than just identify all the obstacles.

One of the most significant unrecognised barriers to creativity is the fear of failure or the fear of an idea not living up to its complete promise. It is a very real feature of research and development organisations: the process of carrying an idea completely through to fruition brings with it the possibility that it is not as good as first thought. It may feel safer to procrastinate and fail to develop the product to where it is a truly creative work. The challenge here is to identify when this is occurring, and to respond by providing opportunity for reassessment and for adjustment to the development program without stigmatising the idea or its champion.

Fostering imagination and creativity first involves an acceptance of learning, and second a recognition that, as part of the discovery process, we must allow failure. If we deny people the opportunity to both try and fail in a constructive manner, then we deny our organisations the potential for growth.

Through awareness of personal and organisational fears, we are able to counter those who would seek to use them against creativity and we are able to encourage processes and attitudes that nurture the seeds of ideas and those that possess them.

3. Knowledge and expertise

Although expertise and confidence are important for creativity, at times they can be limiting. For example, as a person becomes an expert in any field, he or she may develop a great deal of knowledge about what cannot be done. Over time, a number of opportunities for exploration may be choked off. Often this is actually an efficient process. Increasingly, however, what we thought was impossible yesterday can be realised tomorrow, perhaps by exploiting a new technology either within or outside our own area of expertise. The advances in software and computing are a good example of allowing the implementation of the impossible. Often the naivety of the non-expert (whether that be from within or without) is beneficial. They are not encumbered by years of experience ”but this can only be effective in an environment that allows ideas to be put, listened to, developed, examined for the issues and that also encourages interaction.

Individuals and groups with specialised knowledge receive recognition and reward for their expertise. Knowledge means power, and this can lead to a reluctance to share expertise and information. But this is counter to an innovative culture as it prevents interaction and the development of cross-organisational synergies. This attitude depends to a significant degree on the self- confidence of the individual or group, but it is clear how this sort of attitude reduces the opportunity and ability for the organisation as a whole to be truly creative.

4. Active encouragement

In one particular organisation, individuals are encouraged to undertake mini feasibility studies into new ideas. Nothing new in that. In this organisation, however, the results from all the studies are presented, even the studies that show that an idea that at first seemed promising had some undiscovered limiting factors. The principle behind this approach is to reward and encourage the generation and study of ideas. This has led to the discussion of a wide range of issues and the reassessment of a number of business processes within that organisation.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has developed an Innovation Awards program to actively encourage staff to participate. The purpose of the program is to promote the fact that PricewaterhouseCoopers is not only the premier but also the most innovative professional services organisation. The program focuses on innovative ideas that are successfully put into action by staff : winning individuals or teams are eligible for up to US$100 000, as well as highly visible personal recognition. [5]

5. Rule no. 1 ”there are no rules

It is difficult to run any organisation without rules, and fostering creativity is definitely not about generating anarchy . In order to harness creativity, however, it must be recognised that apart from guiding principles, there aren t any defined rules. Rules, however, may develop that are based upon interaction, agreement and need. When putting together new teams or projects, it is critical to release the old mores and allow the possibility for a new set of rules to develop. The challenge for leaders in this type of environment is to accept that within the organisation there may develop several different ways of working.

Traditional managers often underestimate what their people can do if given the opportunity or, alternatively, are afraid of releasing control of an activity in case it diminishes their perceived role. They do not realise that the development or empowerment of their staff will also free the manager to pursue either more creative or more demanding tasks .

6. Welcoming the new

An innovative organisation needs to have some mechanism for considering new ideas. We will look at a more formal process for ideas management a little later, but ask yourself, ˜How did I respond the last time one of my staff came to me with an idea? Were you already preparing a response even as the question was being asked, including all the organisational barriers as to why this has already been tried and wouldn t work? Or did you sit back and try to establish the reasoning behind the idea ”what were the issues and how could they be addressed?

Too often we start assessing an idea before it has even been fully described. To foster creativity ideas must be welcomed and need to be valued. Importantly, people need to be valued and the presentation of ideas encouraged. This process requires trust and respect from all parties. It involves self-respect and confidence on the part of the person raising the idea, and mutual respect from all the other members involved in the process.

Listen to the idea, help understand the underlying thrust and evaluate it in a constructive fashion.

[4] PricewaterhouseCoopers, Innovation and Growth ”A Global Perspective , Survey Report, London, 1999.

[5] PricewaterhouseCoopers, Australia, www.careers.au.pwcglobal.com.




Innovation and Imagination at Work 2004
Innovation and Imagination at Work 2004
ISBN: N/A
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 116

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