Catalyzing Innovation:

Ideas that require bureaucratic shepherding

By Jonathan Vehar

(continued from page 3)

1. Quarterly meetings in “Conference Room M” (this is Apple-speak for going to see a movie on company time. Then send a memo with three applications).

2. Hire an innovation manager whose job it is to get new ideas and champion them to the organization.

3. Once a week, someone will randomly have lunch with the most senior person on the site. The discussion agenda is always “What can we do to improve the business” no-one knows who will be chosen until the morning of the lunch, and then so long as calendar matches up, the luncheon is held. If no calendar match, draw another name or names until lunch date is made.

4. Organization is told that there is a secret group of auditors around the company who are looking to give an award for the individual and team that evidences the greatest degree of innovation behavior. It’s a serious financial award.

5. A section of the company’s annual report to investors includes data based on the assessment of the climate for innovation, and is tracked quarterly year after year.

6. Modify the reward design to reward innovative behavior; this will require making adjustments such as rewarding behavior in addition to results, not punishing poor results, rewarding intelligent risk-taking, rewarding initiation, etc.

7. Institute an employee idea/suggestion-box program.

8. Provide a problem-solving framework (and, potentially train employees to use it) and encourage “grass roots” projects.

9. Establish a library for employees that contains books about creativity, innovation, leadership, etc.

10. Establish a creativity and innovation club that meets regularly.

11. Email regularly (weekly, monthly, etc) anecdotes of what other companies are doing that’s creative and innovative.

12. If your organization has a newsletter, ask the publisher to include a column (or offer to write it yourself) that highlights your organization or other organizations’ innovative ways of working.

13. Upon the completion of each project, complete a template (containing, for example, objective, process/approach, decision, outcome, etc). For process/approach and decision, identify 1 other process and 5 other alternatives (of course, assuming it’s not a “go/no go” decision) that the team could have selected.

14. After each meeting (or project, for that matter), complete a form containing sections for “what went well” and “what can be improved”.

15. Have an issues bucket (as people have issues, they write them on a post-it and stick the post-it in the bucket), and mandate that each meeting concludes by having open discussions or brainstorming sessions for 1 – 3 issues or however many — this fosters open communication and problem solving.

16. Build a knowledge management database, which contains both internal and external anecdotes of ideas and project information; it should be categorized and searchable.

17. Remove the doors to managers’ offices.

18. Like 3M, mandate that 15% of time must be spent working on something new.

19. Put messages and questions in the hallways and bathrooms, like at Clorox R&D.

20. Install mess-hall style tables and chairs so that everyone has to mingle with everyone else.

21. Provide CPS training for all employees to establish a common language, tools, and practices.

22. Hang flip chart pages in the hallways for people to post ideas. As folks go through the halls they can add to the ideas, build on them, etc.

23. Create a library of books, tapes, etc. on creativity and innovation for people to borrow.

24. Create an environment in the lunch area that reeks of creativity, with innovation posters, pictures, music, and stuff to get the brain thinking differently from the usual corporate environment.

25. Create sitting areas in open spaces that promote community, idea sharing, cross-functional relationships and building ideas. Have a spot to record ideas.

Continue to page 5 »

© 2004 Jonathan Vehar

3/7/07