“The key is
to embrace disruption and change early. Don't react to it decades later. You
can't fight innovation.”
- Ryan Kavanaugh
Week 7…it’s hard for me to
imagine that in two weeks this journey will be over for the semester and I will
be turning 40-years old…I had the goal of graduating with my MSLD before I turned
this magical age, and although work and life had some challenges in store for
me, I am still incredibly fortunate and lucky to live this life! I may be half
way done with the required classes for this next achievement, but I certainly
am not even remotely close learning to what this next chapter has to offer.
As I found while researching for our assignment this week, we
learned that “to stay ahead of the wave…firms will need human, brand,
technological, and financial resources to deploy against new and increasingly
complex problems…” (Christensen, Wang, & van Bever, 2013, p. 112) so that
strategically, leaders are able to strengthen their firm, differentiate
themselves within the competitive marketplace, as well as learn to enhance an
innovative culture that allows for a “…unique mix of talent and strength in
solving interdependent problems…” that would be difficult to imitate (Christensen,
Wang, & van Bever, 2013, p. 112) . Moreover, as one
classmate posted this week on the discussion board, our “…challenge is that
it’s seldom easy to see where a new idea starts, where it’s going to go next or
if it will ever stop developing” (Zeitz, 2015) . I think that Dr.
Edward Knab hit the proverbial nail on the head when he mentioned that “…innovation
is a fundamental process in every business and organization” (Kanb, 2015) ,
but we have to find sustainable ways to integrate and support this in a
consistent manner in order for it to become a reality.
One of my favorite ways of identifying innovation would be by
not only isolating what are the “…drivers of strategic action that can clarify
what is needed for successful innovation” (McKeown, 2014, p. 156) , but by also being
able to collaborate on what strategy helps shape a better future for all
involved by identifying the “…shortest route to desirable ends with available
means” (McKeown, 2014, p. 156) . We also found that techniques
to generate innovation surround five basic ideas; envisioning a different
version of the current state of the organization, idea generation surrounding
and supporting the goal of the new vision which allows for various depths of
exploration, argument ,discussion, and brainstorming on what the minimum
expectations, results or needs will be in order to identify success, experimenting
with the possibilities that will lead to the planned current disruption
required to produce change, and modifying to adapt and ensure deployment and
longevity within the team to emulate the desired strategic changes (Canfield, 2011) .
My
particular favorite uncovered tool was that of the 6-3-5 Brainwriting process. Brainwriting 6-3-5 is an alternative version to
brainstorming that encompasses using “…six people, working to generate three
ideas each five minute exercise” (Canfield, 2011, p. 133) . The way the method
works is by having six people in a group, which come up with three ideas during
a five minute period. Each idea can be “…completely new, or can be variations
of ideas already on the sheet, or can be additional developments to ideas already
on the sheet” (uco.edu) .
This week we are going to blog about the relationship between
innovation and disruptive innovation from the perspective of leadership. As I mentioned
in my research paper this week, I think that “innovation
is about practical creativity” (McKeown, 2014, p. 147) and that half the
battle that most leadership positions face is figuring out how to generate, and
begin looking for new and innovative ideas (Values Centered Innovation, 2014) . Innovation is about
both creativity, coming up with the “big idea” as well as execution, which is
traditionally where leadership tends to falter (Govindarajan, 2010) . This is usually
because most companies and leaders tend to think they are “…good at execution…”
when in fact they tend to be “…good at execution of their core business…” (Govindarajan, 2010) .
Additionally,
this week we had the opportunity to explore disruption, and its many shapes and
forms that allow for leaders to recognize the importance of change. As I posted
in our discussion forum this week, I am able to
see that the impact of disruption can actually be a rather productive and
creative way to infuse critical thinking as well as innovation within the daily
operations and functions of the workplace. Moreover, the importance of
disruption was widely discussed; particularly how a “…systematic way to chart and
pace disruption…” (Wessel & Christensen, 2012, p. 63) can be beneficial so
leaders can learn to incorporate projects that can “…provide clearer
ROI…revenue and market share…” into their strategic analysis (Christensen, Wang, & van Bever, 2013, p. 103) .
As a classmate posted, we also have to be considerate in
evaluating how disruption affects all of our shareholders; “many stakeholders
were affected by poor management decisions during a time of disruption” (Sachar, 2015) and therefore we have
to ensure that as leaders, in order for us to effectively manage and maneuver about
disruption, that we “take stock of the entire situation; understand the market
and their competition” (Sachar, 2015) . I think one way to
navigate this area from a perspective of leadership would be to include
multiple areas of expertise all having a voice in how their teams interpret how
the disruption will not only affect their daily operations, but also entail
what unique ideas they collectively have uncovered during the trial and error
phase once ideas have been put in motion to see which will ultimately be the
best for the overall performance of the company. That way, not only are we including
a variety of players from the field and purposely soliciting their inputs, but
we are also making sure that many areas have the chance to research, reflect and
report upon how incremental changes during the disruption period when not
myopically approached and decided upon work in real time.
I cannot currently imagine a time or place when innovation
and disruption would take place within my organization at the same time. I think
that it could be overwhelming and confusing; too much change all at once could
be too much of a good thing. I think it could definitely alter the way in which
I lead for sure. As another classmate posted this week, “to maintain momentum
in what is called a “wave of commoditization”…more human, financial and
technological resources will be needed to combat the increasing complex
problems…” (Palugod, 2015) ; therefore, if they
were happening simultaneously, I think it would have to be done in a similar
fashion to understanding that disrupters happen every day, in every industry
and all the time. It is how corporations decide to respond to them is what ends
up impacting our core business model and daily operations. And this is exactly
where innovation steps in.
I think the best way to lead my organization through
innovation and or disruption is that you have to be fluent in the
organizational operations, understand whom are the experts that can be leaned
upon for critical information during the decision making process, as well as understanding
the idiosyncrasies of disruption can also coach us all into becoming “…savvy
about assessing the jobs they need done and funnel work to the…most
appropriate…” for the job (Christensen, Wang, & van Bever, 2013, p. 110).
In order to incorporate this trend into our current business model, we need to
practice how to strategize and innovate towards uncovering a well-known
solution that has a fairly well defined scope in nature (Christensen, Wang,
& van Bever, 2013, p. 111).
As I mentioned in my own posting this week, to mitigate the
unsettling waters during disruption, that by isolating an “…autonomous business
unit…” that is free from “…reliance on the parent organization…” will help us
“anchor” as we attempt to change our current course (Christensen, Wang, &
van Bever, 2013, p. 113). Secondly, we have to ensure that we find “leaders who
come from the relevant ‘school of experience’ that will allow for engagement at
a variety of levels as they face new problems (Christensen, Wang, & van
Bever, 2013, p. 113). By allowing this area to set priorities and for them to
have a separate and distinct allocation of resources coupled with “unwavering
commitment by the CEO” it will allow for the core project group to be not only
protected from the usual onslaught of red-tape and politics, but will allow for
the team to “…reflect priorities different from those of the core business”
(Christensen, Wang, & van Bever, 2013, p. 113).
Your ultimate goal with disruption is that you want your
efforts to produce solutions that allow for previously “unsolved problems” to
be defined, that gives you a “value-added” business process and obviously
includes all of the imperative networks to gain strength within their
respective structure, as change and disruption are both entirely inevitable. I
think to a certain extent, the same can be true about innovation…but we have to
remember the importance of execution. I think therefore, it takes more than one
leader adapting and being open during this time…it takes an entire army of dedicated
team leaders that have the resources and knowledge to know that they certainly don’t
know everything about everything and let those whom do, lead in their own way.
Until we blog again!
References
Canfield, J. (2011). Imagine. Holland: Black Lake Studio, LLC.
Christensen,
C., Wang, D., & van Bever, D. (2013). Consulting on the Cusp of
Disruption. Harvard Business Review, 107-114.
Govindarajan,
V. (2010, August 3). Innovation is Not Creativity. Retrieved from
Harvard Business Review:
https://hbr.org/2010/08/innovation-is-not-creativity.html
Kanb, E.
(2015, May 10). Module 8: Impact of Lean Start-ups . Retrieved from
Erau.edu: https://erau.instructure.com/courses/14127/discussion_topics/82448
McKeown,
M. (2014). The Innovation Book. Harlow: Maverick & Strong Limited.
Palugod,
C. (2015, May 3). A642.7.2.DQ - Xtreme Innovation. Retrieved from
Erau.edu: https://erau.instructure.com/courses/14127/discussion_topics/48359
Sachar, A.
(2015, May 3). A642.7.2.DQ - Xtreme Innovation. Retrieved from
Erau.edu: https://erau.instructure.com/courses/14127/discussion_topics/48359
uco.edu.
(n.d.). What is "Brainwriting". Retrieved from uco.edu:
https://www.uco.edu/academic-affairs/cqi/files/docs/facilitator_tools/brainhan.pdf
Values
Centered Innovation. (2014). TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES. Retrieved from
Innovationstyles.com:
https://innovationstyles.com/isinc/content/toolstechniques0.aspx
Wessel,
M., & Christensen, C. (2012). Surviving Disruption. Harvard Business
Review, 56-64.
Zeitz, A.
(2015, May 3). A642.7.2.DQ - Xtreme Innovation. Retrieved from
ERAU.edu: https://erau.instructure.com/courses/14127/discussion_topics/48359
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