We’ve seen a lot of writing over the last 50 years about business leadership. Only a small percentage of any of the traditional writing and research is likely to have true staying power for one simple fact – the pace of change is far greater than our collective ability to research and write about what works best. So what I’ve been looking for as I’ve put together this 3-part series about The Characteristics of Innovative Organizations are those traits that – at least in our current world – really seem to be common in this organizations. So far, I’ve talked a little about optimism and risk taking, structure and collaboration, and now for the last characteristic common to innovative organizations (I’m borrowing a great term from Sarah Caldicott Miller here) – charismatic leadership.

We have learned enough about leadership to know with a high degree of confidence how important leadership is to an organization’s vitality and success. We have learned what traits people value in their leaders, and we have some good leadership models for leading through change, leading by example, etc. But what we don’t have a lot of is an explanation of how leaders can drive true innovation and why leadership is so critical to successful innovation. There are some writers now contributing to a growing body of work in this area, but this research and work is all relatively new. So I’ll offer my take on the current state of research in the area, what I believe makes sense and a brief description of three excellent books I recommend on the subject.

I want to start by focusing on the word choice I am using here – “charismatic leadership.” I am not arguing or positing that “charismatic leadership” about a management team or structure. It’s not. It’s also not always about the CEO, COO or any other specific member of the top management team. While there are great examples of leaders in those roles who fit this emerging model for innovation leaders, leadership does not always rest in the management structure an organization provides.

We take our leaders where we find them, and frequently, innovative leaders are NOT the people our organizations tell us have “authority.” In fact, innovative leaders are frequently a little scary for traditional management types. Innovation is about driving new ideas and concepts forward, frequently with an evangelistic fervor and little hard evidence to support the notion the “it” will work. Traditional management methods require metrics, data and proof. So innovation frequently flies in the face of business school management teaching, and as such, results in innovative leaders being left out of the “ladder to success” in a traditional career advancement model. Traditional management, therefore, frequently doesn’t “get it,” and move innovation leaders to roles outside the formal management structure of their teams and organizations.
But – there are those organizations that do “get it.” And it’s in these organizations where passionate people find positive reinforcement, encouragement and a place to apply their passion to their ideas. So, here are the traits we most often find in truly charismatic leaders:

1. Generation of lots of ideas. One idea – even a great one – is not an indicator of creativity or innovation. It’s one idea. No more – no less. Innovative people have lots of ideas. Ideas are the currency of innovation, and we need to look for people who have numerous ideas.
2. Curiosity – where do you think ideas come from? Ideas generally are the product of stimulation from a wide range of sources, and to be exposed to lots of different things, innovative leaders are relentlessly curious. They read, the see film, they explore, they think, they exchange ideas, they seek out new things for the pure pleasure of the new experiences that result from these events, things or ideas. Too many traditional management types are unfailingly NOT curious. They do the same things over and over. They get their news from the same two sources, etc. Look for a different sort of leader. (A good interview question for this – “How many books are you currently reading?” Not that I am a model here, but I am usually digging through 5-6 books at a time – fiction, politics, economics, leadership, etc. During a corporate interview I had several years ago, I was asked about THE book I was reading. When I answered truthfully, I got a raised eyebrow or two. After hired, I was told my answer scared them a little. I should have walked out the door on the spot, but – hey – I was optimistic I could help shift the culture a little. WRONG!)
3. Collaborative – this trait is so critical, it is an absolute requirement in my opinion. Truly innovative people are constantly working with others. They share ideas. Refine ideas. Look for improvements. Look for obstacles, etc. And you cannot do this in isolation.
4. Able to see patterns and connections – this is one of those key traits or competencies that many current management methodologies seek to stamp out. There are patterns and connections all around us. Innovative people put things together in ways others of us don’t quickly see. Don’t discount any suggestion that some unusual things are – in fact – connected. Discounting these sorts of observations can lead to missing some terrific new markets, new products or new processes that can really help drive bottom line results. Too many organizations have structures in place to actually discourage people from sharing information across business units or divisions. Those organizations – and those at the very top of such organizations – lack the ability to see broad interconnections and patterns. So they build structures designed to keep people in silos. These companies are frequently successful for a time, because they push on the things they do best to the exclusion of new ideas. And they are rarely innovative over the long haul.
There are other crucial leadership traits, but these (and they are NOT exclusive in my view) seem to be common to the innovative leaders I’ve met and studied. I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts on the subject.

Now – here are three books you should read ASAP about these ideas:
A Whole New Mind – Daniel Pink. This is – hands down – my favorite business book ever. I’ve read it 4 times, and am now working on some ideas inspired by this amazing work. We ALL owe Mr. Pink a debt of gratitude for getting his ideas on paper and to all of us to enjoy and read.
Innovative Like Edison – Michael J. Gelb and Sarah Miller Caldicott. It’s really impossible to top Thomas Edison for innovation leadership. This is a must have read for those of us interested in this subject.
The Seeds of Innovation – Elaine Dundon. This another terrific read, and Dundon gives us some great information about how innovative organizations work. LOVE this work!

First – sorry for the long hiatus between posts here. I’ve had a great last few weeks including a wonderful trip to Paris and a week in Chicago doing some certification training. In the meantime, I’ve also been doing some more thinking about innovation, creativity and how organizations can align talent to improve the chances that innovation can occur. So now it’s time to talk about the next two characteristics I see in most innovative organizations.

Collaboration and a “flat” structure that facilitates information exchanges seem to be present in innovative organizations. I am not talking about a free form, wide open floor where everyone is chattering with everyone else. While such a structure might be fun and entertaining, it’s not a structure that really encourages true collaboration, and it’s not what I mean by “flat.” Most of this extremely important work will occur in team situations, and that will lead us to our last (3 of 3) post on this topic which will be ready next week.

Collaboration

We all have ideas. Right? How many good ideas do we develop in isolation? I’d wager that number is low; at least it is for me. But collaboration with no guiding principles or direction will be a disaster.

This is a bit like releasing thousand monkeys into a room of word processors and hoping they’ll produce Shakespeare. If you are lucky enough to have it happen once, you surely wouldn’t expect it to be repeatable.
The Innovator’s Guide to Growth, p. 121 Scott D. Anthony, Mark W. Johnson, Joseph V. Sinfield & Elizabeth J. Altman

Collaboration can occur in many forms. Organizations can build teams. Formalized “collaborative” opportunities can be made to work, but it’s much more difficult to direct innovation in these circumstances. On the other hand, teams can be vitally important as innovative ideas are brought forward towards production or execution.
The sort of collaboration that really helps drive innovation has its roots in the organization’s culture. Its’ collaboration by, among and between people empowered to think expansively and communicate with people across traditional organizational boundaries, that drives innovation.

My most recent experience with a corporate job illustrates just how true collaboration can help drive innovation. When the project was in its start-up phase, there was a lot of excitement around it. Multiple people all over the organization and outside the organization made themselves available for discussions, brainstorming and ideation. This open ended collaboration lasted about 18 months, and it resulted in the introduction into the market of a completely new way to reach the location level management at client organizations about ways to improve margins aligned with the vendor’s third-party administrative services.

Over the next 18 months, relationships became more formal and the open ended culture of free communications and information sharing ended over turf disputes and certain internal players demanding control over the project. The free exchange of ideas ground to a halt. Outside resources were dismissed as irrelevant or inconsequential, and a sort of internal arrogance began to seep into the project. The end result was a stagnant sales effort and an end to the project. The culture surrounding the initial effort changed into a culture dominated by a total lack of collaboration and failure.

Flat Structure

On some levels, a “flat structure” and collaboration are so closely intertwined; it’s hard to separate the two elements. But I believe the two concepts are separate and should be addressed as such. Collaboration has to do with the way in which the people within an organization see themselves and their relative ability to reach out for ideas and assistance as needed. The “flat structure” concept refers to organizational choices related to command/control and the flow of information.
At the terrific blog, The Heart of Innovation, http://www.ideachampions.com/heartofinnovation/ there was a post on June 5, 2009 about how CEO’s sabotage innovation efforts. It’s a provocative read and highlights the dangers of a rigid, hierarchal structure with a short-term view of “shareholder value.”In other words, when organizations are set up with a strong “top-down” management (NOT leadership!) structure, innovation will usually be little more than an afterthought. These sorts of organizations also tend to work in silos with little knowledge and information flowing across structural “boundaries.” All of these factors combine into a management, structure and cultural mix that are toxic and hostile to innovative initiatives.

In Winning Through Innovation, Tushman and O’Reilly advocate for a management problem solving method they call a “congruence approach.” One of the elements the authors argue that needs to be identified and fostered to accomplish the innovative problem solving is for organizations to identify and leverage the informal networks that move information around the organization. These networks, in innovative organizations, are generally informal, defy operational identities (not in silos) and evolve naturally around the abilities of key individuals who serve as connectors between colleagues and for ideas.

Starting Point

It’s people. Innovation always has been and always will be about your people. How do teams within your organization function? Do teams evolve on their own? Are they formally created? Do leaders emerge or are leaders designated? How are your leaders handling the needs and requirements of an innovative culture?
If you have answers to these questions, I’d love to read about them. In the meantime, we will post the third and final installment of the characteristics of innovative organizations next week. Stay tuned!

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about innovation, and it seems like half the known universe is doing the same thing. This isn’t bad. In fact, seeing innovation all over the media, net, blog world, Twitter, etc., encourages me. Maybe – just maybe – we (as in a huge swath of people in organizations & business) are finally coming around to the realization that we can’t sit back and wait for “the way things used to be” to come back. Traditional thinking and business models either are, or will soon be, obsolete. We must move forward with new ways of looking at things and new ideas to not only suceed in this “new world order.” I suggest that innovation for all of us is necessary to simple survival.

I saw the Disney/Pixar animated film, “Up” over the weekend. I won’t rehash the well-deserved rave reviews here. But I will explain some valuable innovation lessons contained in this terrific story.

1. Persistence. One of the most important lessons great innovators teach us is the stick with the effort. You simply can’t give in to frustration, or apparent dead ends, or being tired. You have to keep at it and keep at some more until that great idea gets refined to the point that it represents real innovation. In the film, the hero (voiced by Ed Asner) had several chances to give up his dream of taking his beloved Ellie to a mystical world. First, he could have simply gone to a retirement home. Instead, he tied balloons to his house and flew away. Then, after he landed, Carl could have just settled for the spot the wind chose. Again, he acted and took matters into his own hands and found a way to reach his dream.
2. Optimism. Balloons tied to a house? Yes. Carl believed, and it worked. But other characters showed optimism in the face of circumstances that looked desperate. Russell, a young “little mailman” (see the film!) was optimistic every step of the way. This trait helped keep Carl and Russell moving when it would have been easy to simply sit down and call it a day.
3. Curiosity. The whole adventure would not have happened but for Carl and his wife’s curiosity about a world they’d never seen. It was this willingness to try new things that provided the spark for Carl’s rather daring adventure. And when things looked their darkest (a near disaster of a fire), Carl’s willingness to seek out even newer experiences and explore new adventures moved the story past what could have been an easy out for the old man and young boy.
4. Open Minded. Kevin, the bird Carl and Russell befriend, turns out not be a boy at all but a mother. Russell and Carl never batted an eye. So what? Kevin she was, and Kevin she stayed. But more than that, both Carl and Russell remained open throughout the entire story to whatever came their way. Dug the loyal (and very funny) dog was originally shunned by the “pack.” But Dug’s open and kind heart led him to discover a whole new pack to join. If only we could be open to new opportunities with the same optimistic, open minded view of the world!

“Up” may not be the best movie ever made, but it’s certainly an entertaining one. It also helps illustrate just how some simple traits can foster an environment where new and different ideas can flourish.