1. business and industrial

training and teambuilding
The Next Little Thing:
Seven Steps Towards Innovation
By Amelia Chan, CHRP
Innovation is the one renewable resource that cannot be used
up. It has the potential to ignite and regenerate. It is different
from invention which requires something brand new each
time. Innovation simply requires the will to see or to do things
in another way. By tapping into this approach, a business can
release constraints, reveal new paths or even create something remarkable against the odds.
G
iven the increasing rates of job dissatisfaction and
a shift towards life in the work/life balance equation,
leaders can no longer look to increased working hours
and workloads in their quest to maximize productivity.
Fortunately, where the old way of working “harder, longer, faster”
has led us is towards a new way of doing things.
Whereas innovation was once desirable, it is now essential for
organizations seeking to remain relevant and competitive. What
is emerging is a less traditional leadership style, grounded in creating the environment in which everyday innovations can thrive.
While not all organizations have shifted as yet, the mentality of
the marketplace has most definitely.
“Common sense is not common action,” admits author Shawn
Achor in Before Happiness. “The greatest competitive advantage in
the modern economy is a positive and engaged brain.”
The essential task for HR professionals and other leaders is
to create the milieu and means by which such motivated minds
might better the business—beyond the regular scope of their roles
and responsibilities.
Explore Human Resourcefulness at All Levels
A major part of that is communicating the need for innovation and
accepting that the biggest impacts can stem from small ‘tweaks’ to
existing people processes. While striving for the ‘next big thing’ is
always around the corner, the ongoing small things are what can
create reverberating results that allow a business to thrive.
Innovation can emerge from any tier or corner of an
organizational chart. As HR professionals can attest, human
resourcefulness is not solely an executive affair. Front line staff are
often unmined gold for organizational growth—if listened to—
because they are closer to the customer experience. By playing
the part of curious learner rather than know-it-all expert, new
perspectives can emerge.
Small Actions, Big Impacts and Beachwear
A wonderful illustration of resourceful innovation can be found
in How to Be a Positive Leader: Small Actions, Big Impact1 by Jane
Dutton and Gretchen Spreitzer. A retail store manager named
Ethan worked for a chain of women’s clothing and accessory
stores. Ethan received a dress that was not selling very well, and
noted that other stores in the chain were also struggling with sales
of the item—leading to a potentially large inventory write-off.
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2015
Instead of settling for a slump, Ethan innovated. Simply by
cutting the straps off the dress, he changed a dud of a dress into a
best-selling beach cover-up. Ethan did not consider his managerial
role as delimiting and transformed himself, at least temporarily,
into a product designer. Instead of giving in to being stuck with an
unsellable item, he reinterpreted his role and used the resources at
hand to be creative—and innovate to the purpose of profit.
While laying the groundwork for innovation is essential, what
follows is a brief list of daily due diligences required to build upon
those foundations.
1. Open Communications On All Levels.
Engaging employees to perform beyond their roles requires an
understanding of individual drive. The ability to overcome apathy
or at least maintain forward momentum requires information
exchange vertically and horizontally within the organization.
This is an instance where silence isn’t golden. Conversations and
feedback are essential for mutual understanding, connection and
innovation. This type of engagement draws attention towards
productive differences that expand and enrich rather than shut
down or antagonize.
2. Reframe Questions For Better Results.
Asking questions in a different way can be a small move towards
a big discovery. Instead of asking “what is….”, leaders should
consider approaching the same discussion by asking “what if …”
or “what might be …”. This flip casts light on the possibilities and
changes the tone from question-answer to exploration-discovery.
For instance, instead of asking, “What is a phone used for?” the
iPhone designers might have asked, “What if we could do more
than talk on a phone?”
3. Promote and Embody an Entrepreneurial Mindset.
Creative frugality uses limited resources wisely. Thinking like an
entrepreneur is a simple way to winnow the wheat from the chaff
when seeking to translate new ideas into valid organizational
opportunities for the business. The entrepreneurial mindset is
groomed to do so in a head-on manner by spending imagination
instead of money. Entrepreneurs realize that failure is a learning
exercise which is inevitable and beneficial, so they pay attention
to the cost not to the rate-of-failure. They also exercise discipline
by experimenting intelligently—not just through analysis, but
implementation through trial and error and by embracing calculated risk.
4. Create an Understanding of Employee Value.
Employees have a greater commitment to improvement when
they understand the strategic direction of the company—and
where their efforts impact. Knowing what to focus on also enables
individuals to better prioritize and apply limited resources wisely.
“Do you know what my favorite renewable fuel is? An ecosystem for innovation.” —Thomas Friedman
Progressive organizations use collective energy, direction and
enthusiasm to cultivate ongoing improvements; change isn’t
perceived as the enemy but a useful tool. When the employees can
directly see the impact of their efforts, they are able to see their
contribution as worthwhile and of value.
5. Boost Autonomy and Provide Support.
Extending autonomy communicates a powerful signal to employees that they can be trusted to reach the desired end points. In
addition, managers and leaders can demonstrate active support
by facilitating the removal of barriers. Building an employee’s
developmental plan together helps provide concrete ways to
implement improvements for the individual and organization
alike. This encourages innovation as managers play steward to
the employee’s aspirations while serving the organization’s bigger
picture and bottom line.
6. Create Meaning to Unlock Innovation.
Author Guy Kawasaki believes that the first step towards innovation that companies need to make is to define their meaning—the
reason they exist. This puts the focus less on what a company does
and more on why they do it: their raison d’être. By making meaning matter more, obstacles are changed in their nature, proactively
engaged before they become problematic, and used as stepping
stones towards better organizational and individual futures.
Of course, this only works if such meaning is shared. When
employees possess a sense of belongingness, they take more
initiative and exhibit more innovative behaviours. By actively
participating in their work, employees co-create with everyone
around them. This leads to better ideas, higher commitment
and knowledge sharing—ultimately, laying the foundation
for daily discovery and performance improvements (a.k.a.
INNOVATION).
7. Revive Human Resourcefulness.
Leaders and employees who are “resourceful” purposefully repurpose what is at hand—whether these are material resources such
as products or immaterial resources such as relationships—to
create a sum of greater value than its parts.
By viewing employees as the most resourceful of resources,
their organizational value automatically increases, as does the
likelihood of innovative contributions. When recognized and
encouraged, many are willing to play roles outside of their formal
position. However, lacking that bond, employees will inevitably
act the part of resistor to change (which ultimately becomes a selffulfilling prophesy).
Amelia Chan, CHRP, RCIC is founder and principal consultant
of Higher-Options Consulting Services (HR-options.com),
providing a wide range of HR and immigration services for
small to mid-sized businesses.
1. How to Be a Positive Leader: Small Actions, Big Impact by Jane E. Dutton and
Gretchen M. Spreitzer (eds) Chapter.
PeopleTalk |
Spring 2015
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