Experimentation + Risk (+ Failure) = Improved Environment for Innovation
October 19, 2009
Thomas Alva Edison was a failure. It has been said that he “went back to the drawing board” more than 6,000 times before finding the right plant to produce a carbonized filament for his incandescent light bulb.
Six thousand times. Do you have that kind of innovative stamina?
It’s been said that Risk + Experimentation (+ Failure) = Improved Environment for Innovation. Put another way, Innovation = Creativity x Risk Taking.
Innovation is an experiment of sorts. It requires a culture of risk, opportunity and challenge. Moreover, for an organization to benefit from innovation, leaders and team members alike must welcome - and grow from - failure.
Rather than view failure as inherently bad, successful innovation requires that executives and teams commit to learning from each experiment gone bad — and incorporate those teachings into the next endeavor.
The successes and failures borne of innovation experimentation perpetuate innovation. When strategies are emerging, innovators test their hypotheses and gather information to continue forward with their ideas. Whether the innovation is a consumer product, a software application, or an internal process for an existing business enterprise or workflow strategy, the question remains: How will the idea resonate with the target audience or user? What costs are reasonable? Can the audience (consumers, manufacturers, employees) be convinced to shift well-established habits to embrace The New?
Because of a high failure rate, organizations pursuing the practice of Innovation must have a tolerance for failure. Not every idea will win. But each failure must be perceived as valuable in the trial-and-error process as a team seeks improvement. Tolerance for failure must be encouraged, as well as enthusiasm for risk-taking. Without risk, there can be no reward.
To create a culture of innovation, organizations should:
- Encourage well-reasoned risk-taking. The pursuit of innovation isn’t some fool-hardy flight of fancy. Encourage — or insist upon — a plan to be presented first, to ensure understanding and buy-in across the affected organization. Know your tolerance for risk and failure in the pursuit of innovation.
- Test. True innovation requires thorough testing in pursuit of success. Testing, measurement, and an accounting of what’s been learned — even in failure — brings measurable outcomes from successes and failures alike.
- Trust. Do you - as a CEO or team leader - trust your people to pursue new ideas on behalf of the company? Build a culture of trust in the individual’s pursuits — so long as safety-measures are in place to safe guard against failure damaging the organization.
Most of all, avoid letting a failed concept kill your team’s motivation. Every idea should be given positive acknowledgment, every failure should be studied for “what went wrong,” and every success should receive appropriate reward. By providing your team with a culture of Innovation, their risk-taking abilities will improve. And, as was the case with Mr. Edison, they eventually will see the light borne from their successful innovations.
Accountability: The Rudder of Innovation in a Changing Business Environment
October 5, 2009
As companies and organizations pursue innovation to transform themselves from what they currently are or offer, to what they want to become or provide the marketplace, accountability is the rudder that steers pursuits and prevents a wandering, directionless ship.
Wikipedia defines “Accountability” as part responsibility and answerability, liability and enforcement, blameworthiness and consequences. “Accountability is defined as ‘A is accountable to B when A is obliged to inform B about A’s (past or future) actions and decisions, to justify them, and to suffer punishment in the case of eventual misconduct.”
Whether an independent endeavor or one pursued with the counsel of an Innovation Coach or consultant, accountability within a team is like the principle that guides a group of mountaineers. Each member is tethered to the same length of climbing rope. Each climber lends stability and confidence to the next. But slippage jeopardizes the entire team. One member slips, and while the team is there to catch and recover, the group nonetheless becomes vulnerable.
Accountability is owning up to what’s yours - earning kudos when things go right, and shouldering the blame when things go wrong. For the organization in pursuit of innovation, no component is more critical than the trust borne of accountability. It’s team members holding to deadlines, having your back, or adhering to schedules so the team can advance as a whole.
How should your organization infuse the concept of responsible accountability throughout the enterprise? The following methods can be highly effective at inculcating a culture of Innovation Accountability in an organization…
- Give Them Enough Rope To… Allow team members decide “how” projects or tasks will get done. Should they get off track, guide them back.
- It’s Expected: From the start, tell team members what their responsibilities are.
- We Know that You Know the Answers: Don’t create organizational co-dependency. Step back. Let your people come up with the solutions.
- Tread Lightly on the Gas Pedal: Once the initial role of providing direction and support is over, build your team’s confidence by backing out of the situation.
- Skinner Was Right: Positive reinforcement works. When your team, or a team member, does well, lavish praise.
For more tips, visit Robert’s Rules of Innovation’s Accountability page and click on “Tips“.
In a corporate environment, each team member must feel a responsibility to deliver, to be held accountable, to make good on expectations. This level of accountability is about culture. It’s about buy in. It’s about people knowing their roles, and the limitless possibilities - and positive personal rewards - of jobs performed in an organization guided by the rudder of accountability.
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