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INNOVATION = ideas SUCCESSFULLY applied

What is innovation? This is a question we hear often and the answer is often shrouded in myth and described as magic. It is more often than not describe in overly complicated terms, yet is by nature a simple concept.

The following definitions are a useful starting point.  The first is from the OECD (1994), an organization that includes both technical and organizational aspects in its definition – this is the definition reflected in the national frameworks.  Thus, innovation is defined as:

“any new products or processes and significant technological change in products and processes.  An innovation has been implemented if it has been introduced to the market (product innovation) or used within a production process (process innovation).  Innovations therefore involve a series of scientific, technological, organizational, financial and commercial activities.”

Richards (1985) defines innovation as the process through which new and valuable ideas are put into practice.   

The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Management (Dodgson, et. al. 2014) have a range of definitions, best described collectively as “Ideas, successfully applied”.

Innovation would appear a simple concept, and we make it unnecessarily complicated.

References: 

Mark Dodgson, David M. Gann, and Nelson Phillips (2014)  The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Management   Oxford: ISBN: 9780199694945

 OECD (1994), The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities (‘Frascati Manual’), OECD, Paris.

Rickards, T. (1985), Stimulating Innovation, Frances Printer, London.

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Workplace factors affecting creativity

To help us understand how creativity can be promoted, it is useful to examine the factors in the workplace that affect creativity. 

The following classification of factors in the work environment which affect creativity is drawn from Amabile, Coni, Coon, Lazenby and Herron (1996):

Organisational Encouragement:

  • Encouragement of risk taking and of idea generation, a valuing of innovation from the highest to the lowest levels of management.
  • Fair, supportive evaluation of new ideas
  • Reward for and recognition of creativity
  • Collaborative idea flow across the organisation and participative management and decision making.

Supervisory Encouragement:

  • Goal clarity
  • Open interactions between supervisor and subordinates
  • Supervisory support of a team’s work and ideas
  • Lack of rigid formal management structures, conservatism and internal strife.

Work Group Encouragement:

  • Diversity in team members’ backgrounds
  • Mutual openness to ideas
  • Constructive challenging of ideas
  • Shared commitment to projects.

Autonomy:

  • Relatively high autonomy in the day-to-day conduct of the work.
  • Sense of ownership and control over their own work and their own ideas.
  • Perceived choice in how to go about accomplishing tasks.

Amabile, T.M.  Coni, R., Coon, H., Lazenby, J. and Herron, M. (1996), ‘Assessing the Work Environment for Creativity’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol 39 (5), pp. 1154-1184.

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A New Year

“…our fleeting lives do not simply ‘happen’ and vanish – they take place”

JANE HIRSHFIELD

Events do not slip away into the past, but carve a place in our historical or physical or present selves.

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Tips on dealing with conflict

At some stage in our life we have to handle conflict. Within a team we can all help manage and resolve conflict among team members. The following are some useful actions you can take.

  • Check that the conflict is real. Ask those who disagree to paraphrase one another’s comments.  This may help them learn if they really understand one another.
  • If real, try to work out a compromise.  Get everyone to agree on the underlying source of conflict, then engage in give-and-take and finally agree on a solution.
  • Ask each member to list what the other side should do.  Exchange lists, select a compromise all are willing to accept, and test the compromise to see if it meshes with team goals.
  • Have the sides each write 3 to 5 questions for their opponents.  This will allow them to signal their major concerns about the other side’s position.  And the answers may lead to a compromise.
  • Coach team members to see a need for compromise. They sometimes may have to admit they’re wrong.  Help them save face by convincing them that changing a position may well show strength.
  • Respect the experts on the team.  Give their opinions more weight when the conflict involves their expertise, but don’t rule out conflicting opinions. We all need to entertain the possibility of being wrong.