When We Cross That River

Imagine two individuals standing on the same side of the same river but with some distance in between them. And one is standing at a point where the river is calm and gentle whereas the other is standing at a point where the river is wild and fast. Now what will happen when the two will call each other only to consult one another how to cross this river? Do you think they will agree on the way to get across? Probably not. Yet I see this happening every day in organisations. Individuals and groups in direct opposition when discussing solutions whilst they are facing a different problem. They share the same goal: reaching the other side. But they are looking at different parts of the river, requiring them to think differently. Now some would argue that it's simply a matter of reaching agreement on what the problem is. But sometimes we think we agree but we don't. Or we can't agree. Why is that?

First there are a couple of constraints that need to be understood by both. Recognizing these five may increase your options to reach that shared goal:

1. The premature solution
We try so hard to focus on solutions that often we forget to analyze the problem sufficiently, causing us to limit our data gathering, use familiar ways that we know how to solve, and finally, narrow too soon. This can also be 'the single-solution dogma'. We have found a solution to the problem as we see it. Can we accept that there might be several solutions instead of one?

2. The forgotten principle
Problems often reoccur. While this doesn't call for repeating a solution, it's not uncommon that organisations have thought of a principle to guide them each time a problem of similar nature occurs. But principles tend to be forgotten or understood differently over time, whilst they can help us agree that multiple solutions could fit.

3. The policy straitjacket
Organisations often seek efficiency and control by standardisation. If similar problems are addressed in the same way, policies are in place, then people know how to act and we can predict the outcome. But while standardizing manufacturing processes makes perfectly sense, it doesn't make any sense in problem-solving. It limits the use of common sense and may deny us better solutions for different contexts in which the same problem can occur.

4. The improbable testimony
You are looking at the problem but you fail to see it as the other does. Of course! You are looking at it from a different angle. Denying someone's perception of the problem is more harmful than the problem itself. It causes distrust and closes doors for further dialogue and collaboration.

5. The Babylon effect
Christian or not, we all know the story. In ancient Babylon, the Babylonians were building a tower to reach to heaven to sit next to God and rule the world. In the biblical story, God placed confusion of speech upon the builders so they could no longer communicate and complete their work. Are we really speaking the same language?


In fact, there are many more constraints to mention that can cause us to disagree on a solution, or worse, make us settle for a less optimal consensus. But the ones mentioned here are some within your direct span of control. Recognize these and you are half way there!

Wreck-It Steve

"Sometimes in order to create, you need to destroy."

Whether this aphorism holds any truth is difficult to say. There is no empirical evidence for causality in this order; wrecking before building. Change is an inevitable part of life, but can it involve taking steps back in order to find a different direction or does it always involve moving ahead from where you are?

While playing around with these thoughts, I came across several leadership posts favouring the act of destruction, some of which written by people I highly admire. In one of them, the author claims that too many leaders are concerned with fixing things, when what they should be doing is breaking things (see Leadership Is About Breaking Things by Mike Myatt, one of the top leadership bloggers in the U.S. and regular guest author for Forbes online magazine). Now just to be clear on this, I am in no position to question any of the authors’ insights as I cannot match their wisdom. As a matter of fact, Mike is one of few bloggers whose new posts he shares via Twitter I tend to retweet even before having read them (I eventually read them all!). But still, even if it is needed to break down a wall to build a better one, you would probably end up using the same bricks. Or will you smash them up to dust to produce new bricks as well?

Before I start breaking things around me, I need to make sure that I got it right. Or at least overcome my fear of not knowing whether what will be broken is eventually replaced by something better. And maybe that is what differentiates one who leads from one who leads well. A fearless leader has solid faith and does not worry about the trials of this present time, but looks beyond to the coming time.

I clearly have a lot to learn still before becoming Wreck-It Steve. How about you?

Can We Please Start Innovating?

One morning on my way to work, a man sitting opposite to me in the train caught my attention. He was drawing stuff in his sketchbook which I recognized as an organisational chart. Normally I am able to control my nosiness in such a public setting, or at least know how to conceal it well, but that morning I caught myself fascinated by his illustration of, what I consider to be, an organisational defect.

For those who are not familiar with the concept, an organisational chart or organigram is a graphical representation of relations between people in an organisation, often to illustrate the hierarchy. Operating units or positions are commonly pictured as text boxes. The connecters between them show a hierarchical relationship or co-workership.

My fellow passenger was in fact drawing a straightforward, conventional organigram. Being in the HR business, this alone was enough to get me interested. But then he did something that almost made me intervene and to this day is puzzling me. He drew a square around two boxes as if he was grouping them, and then named that section 'Innovation'. It appeared that these two units or positions were made responsible for the organisation’s innovative power, maybe as of that very moment. Perhaps later that day he was going to tell someone, somewhere in some organisation, to start being innovative. That day, I would not want to have been either of them. Sender nor receiver.

Why wouldn’t you assign innovation as a task to a unit or position?

Let me start by saying that I do not have a magic formula on how you should innovate or 'organize' innovation. I could tell you that many billion-dollar ideas have originated in suburb garages, but it does not suggest you should occupy your garage. And if I would tell you that research has shown that individuals are equally, if not more, productive in coming up with brilliant ideas by themselves than would they have been put together in a brainstorm group, I am not saying you should dismantle your innovation teams. Chances are in fact that many of you will try to proof me wrong, saying a recipe does exist. Showing me examples of innovation teams that have transformed companies into the market leaders they are today. And consultancy firms would mind-boggle me with statistics of success rates in Fortune 500 companies that have used their innovation roadmaps.

I can however, tell you that I have learnt that people have a natural tendency to do things better and faster by continuously challenging the status quo. If you have read my previous post, The War for Talent Hoax, you could consider that essentially everyone has such a gift. I have seen ideas sprout out of nowhere or grow after having been planted as seed. And sometimes they came from one single creative mind, where at other times they came from a collaborative thought. Some have hit immediate success whereas others needed to be reshaped to turn around failure. In some settings, innovation can only excel with unlimited resources whereas innovators in India have shown resourcefulness amid serious constraints with a concept they call Jugaad (pronounced “joo-gaardh”). It is therefore my strong belief that innovation is a universal, organic experience rather than an oiled machine.

Is there anything leadership can do to propel innovation?

Yes, leaders should get out of its way! Their efforts of organising innovation are equally helpful as harmful, quite often preventing people from being creative as management comes with restrictive rules. Then again, getting out of its way does mean that leaders should create an environment without any barriers, while working with local economic realities and constraints.


3 Most Common Leadership Pitfalls in Innovation:

1. Assigning separate units or positions with the task of innovation
With this, leaders are implicitly telling their other workers that they do not have to be innovative in their work.

2. Creating multi-layer or multi-discipline groups to brainstorm
Again, innovation is being addressed in isolation from the majority population. And although diversity assumes to increase the variety of insights, members tend to be more reserved when it involves a group of unequals, afraid that some of their ideas might be found ridiculous.

3. Starting innovation projects
Projects automatically assume a set of rules, which may act restrictive when applied to the process of innovation. For instance, innovation does not have clear, tangible deliverables. The goals are rarely clear from the beginning and may need to morph significantly along the process. Deadlines would probably even cause what you might call an 'inventor's block'.


As said, I am not claiming that if you have organised innovation in one of these ways, there is no chance for success. I am merely advocating for a different way of leading innovation. One that is more inclusive. Leading innovation should not be about managing those who are tasked with it, but about taking away barriers for everyone to be innovative. This alternate approach aims to inject innovation in the genes of the organisation, creating an innovative culture.

Next time, I will tell you more about the lessons I have learnt on how to take away these barriers. Or you can let me know yours by commenting on this post right now!