Resuming our Best of Killer Innovation series, we look at key ingredients to build innovation success for organizations.

Innovation is about translating ideas into products, services, and solutions. Ideas without execution are a hobby.  Is your organization in the business of Innovation? This week's show boils it down to a simple equation. Ideas + Innovation Culture = Innovation Success.  The process starts with ideas and the management of them.  But ideas won't develop and thrive without the right culture.  Core Attributes are about setting the basis for Innovation Culture.  When you set up a good system of gathering ideas and lay a foundation for an innovation culture, innovation success ensues.

Creating Order from the Brainstorm of Ideas

The process starts with ideas coming from many sources.  Then comes the question of how to manage your ideas.  How do you log, track and rank them?  Where are your ideas today in the innovation lifecycle?  What about all the brainstorming sessions over the last few years… could you quickly put your hand on the list of those ideas?  Ideas have value over time.

The Idea Management System, Step By Step

If you believe ideas are the economy's currency, you need to manage ideas as a valued asset for innovation success.  Treat ideas as valuable asset.

What's needed in an idea management system?

Idea capture and tracking

·         It is an easy way to put ideas in the system, track them over time, evaluate them, and link them to other ideas that could grow into something significant.

·         Done by people on the innovation team but also open to other people in the organization who can submit an idea easily – have one place to look for all assets

Idea evaluation – some form of an idea evaluation tool that allows management to assess and look at ideas more closely

·         Does everyone in the organization look at it and vote

·         Use a ranking process like F-Focus, I-Ideation, R-Ranking, E-Execution

·         Crowdsource feedback

The system must allow for Ad Hoc Team Collaboration

·         As people submit an idea, people can search the system to see if someone has a similar idea across the organization – can team up, combine efforts and areas of expertise

·         Social hub of Innovation within an organization

·         Get better ideas – cross-organizational efforts – collaborations that generate exciting ideas

Supports whatever your organization's process is for Innovation

·         The tool needs to match today's and even tomorrow's process

·         Track ideas through the gating process your organization uses

·         Follows phases of Innovation used
A lot of tools out there that force you to follow their process – be careful – you need a tool that follows your process.

Needs to support pausing ideas

·         The difference between a good idea and a great idea is not about the idea.  It's about the timing.

·         Market, customer, organization, and government regulations are not ready for many reasons.

·         The key is you always need the ability to pause the idea – capture it so that you can pause and pull out an idea later when the timing is right

Ability to issue challenges

·         Don't run an idea management system like an electronic suggestion box – ideas will become incremental

·         For breakthrough ideas, issue challenges: carefully worded questions, problems, and areas of interest put out to the general population with some form of incentive for spending time thinking about ideas/approaches that will answer or solve that in the form of ideas

·         Well-constructed challenges (problem statement) generate a wealth of good ideas

·         Gets org thinking – signaling where the org is going, what the direction of org is

My Experience With These Tools

Without a system or tool, you are lost

·         You have to treat them as a valuable asset

Don't restrict access to the tool

·         Open it up to 100 percent of your organization

·         You have to trust your employees

Promote your tool

·         Get people to engage on the tool providing their feedback

·         This becomes the mechanism by which ideas are trained and tracked

·         Promote constantly and consistently

Close the loop with the idea submitters

·         If someone submits an idea, they need to hear back

·         Give them feedback

Think about applying some form of gamification

·         Make it fun

·         Please give them a point or scoring system

Core Attributes

When I took over a new role as CEO, I set out a hundred-day plan looking at the organization and figuring out what made it tick.  I spent a significant amount of time doing one on one interviews with all the key stakeholders.  I asked them four questions:

·         What should we preserve?

·         What should we stop doing?

·         What is it that you most hope I do?

·         What do you expect I do not do?

Ninety-five percent of employees feared that the new CEO would not change anything.  They understood that some things needed to be changed for the company to flourish.  I realized that I had to build the core attributes from scratch. So, how do you do that?  The key is to help everyone understand why core attributes are so important.  What is it the team wants the organization to become?  Core attributes articulate what you stand for.  The ones we came up with are:

·         We need to be passionate

·         We think big and bold

·         We are fast and agile

·         We are a team

·         We unlock individual potential

·         We lead by example

·         We are resourceful

Once you have captured this, you are ready to start the process.  Having the list is the beginning of the process. The senior executives must own this; the senior executives must always control this. We must manage the process to get everyone on board with the innovation culture.  It communicates the process and displays the core attributes.  Instead of telling people these are the core attributes, we published them and invited people to come in as part of group sessions. 

We collected a list of core attributes employees liked and helped brainstorm recommendations for the executive team about how we could live it.  We have included core attributes in our performance management.  Employees are assessed on those core attributes at the end of the year.  The impact on the organization was beyond anything I expected.  It is not a static and never-ending process but develops a practical framework for an innovation culture that drives success.

Continuing our Best of Killer Innovations series, we focus on incorporating creativity into all aspects of life. Creativity is a state of mind that can be achieved with practice, enabling you to stand out as an innovator.

Everyone is creative.  Yet some people seem more creative than others.  What do those people have that others might lack?  What's the secret to creativity? This week we talk about finding creative inspiration outside of work.  I'll share my thoughts on what makes people creative. We'll also hear Kym McNicholas interview Tania Katan.  Tania has just come out with a book called Creative Trespassing: How to Put the Spark and Joy into Your Work and Life.  

Finding Inspiration

Humans use creativity every day to solve complex issues.  Some people are more creative than others in problem-solving.  How do these people manage to stay ahead of everyone else creatively?  First, these people are inspired. Find something piques your interest and drives you to go above and beyond, experiment, and learn.  You can find creative inspiration even at work. If you are passionate about your work, you are feeding your creativity.

Practicing Creativity

Another common denominator of creative people is that they practice creativity.  People do not just wake up already skilled at something. They have to practice it until they have mastered it.  Practice can be defined as two things:

·        To do repeated exercises for proficiency

·        To pursue a profession actively

There is a myth that you can't practice creativity and innovation.  You can practice and become proficient. There are many ways to exercise your creative abilities.  There are exercises for the daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly practice of creative skills.  

Talking Creative Inspiration with Tania Katan

Tania Katan shares with Kym McNicholas how people's creativity in their personal life can enhance their work.  Her book, Creative Trespassing: How to Put the Spark and Joy Back into Your Work and Life, examines the impact of bringing personal creative exercise into the workplace. Tania wrote this book because she saw a disconnect between people's creativity and what they did at their jobs during the day.  

Tania says that if you are looking for innovation, you must bring your creativity to your job.  Problems with innovation could be solved if we got our creativity to work. Throughout the book, there are exercises called "Productive Disruptions."  These are creativity breaks. Stanford's study was called the "Walking Creativity Study." This proved that people who went for walks experiencing creative blocks experienced 60 percent higher creativity afterward.  Disruptions and breaks are scientifically proven to help improve creativity. Many people don't enhance creativity because they don't have the right experience or training.  We must break through that barrier and ask "what if" questions. Stop trying to solve problems the same way and try creativity.

Some of the most significant takeaways from the book are:

·        Our job does not have to be uniquely creative for us actually to be creative.

·        We must feel free at the workplace to create a creative revolution inside our bodies, minds, and cubicles.

One of the biggest roadblocks to creativity is the fear of thinking and doing things differently. The best way to get through that obstacle is to face it.  

Picking up our Best of Killer Innovations series, we examine in detail FOBO and how to overcome mental barriers that can hinder innovation.

The fear of a better option (FOBO) can paralyze decision-making. It is also the enemy of innovation.  In this episode, I share four ways to deal with FOBO.

FOBO versus FOMO

What is it that causes that hesitation at decision time? Patrick McGinnis calls it FOBO: the Fear of a Better Option. Patrick describes it as “paralyzed at the prospect of actually committing to something, out of fear that we might choose something that was not the perfect option.” The result is that you get stuck in analysis paralysis and never decide. The sister term to FOBO is FOMO, the Fear of Missing Out. If you miss out, you will not have that one magic piece of data that will give you perfect information. So, our fear of missing out feeds our fear of a better option. The result is saying “yes” to everything. I used to say “yes” to every request to speak or teach, no matter the impact on myself or my family. When you combine FOBO with FOMO, you can be afraid of doing anything. That is FODA, the paralysis that turns into a fear of doing anything. What I had to learn was to say “no.” Breakthrough came when a newspaper article about me forced me to go public with a secret that fed my imposter syndrome.  

I deal with FOMO by creating criteria for myself that help me prioritize the requests for my time and attention.  

FOBO in Innovation

For innovation, deciding to move forward on an idea to commit to resources, such as people and money, is ripe for FOBO. A leader has hesitated to give a team the green light on a project because they are not yet convinced it is the best/perfect idea. No idea is a perfect idea. FOBO could mask a more general fear of failure. But not deciding means zero chance of an innovative idea. The primary objective is to innovate and to do that. It would be best if you tried your ideas. Come to terms with the fact that most of your ideas will fail.  FOBO, fearing a better option, is the enemy of innovation. It is the tool antibodies will use to brush off your ideas.  

FODA (the Fear of Doing Anything)

When you combine FOBO and FOMO, you can find yourself paralyzed, not wanting to commit to anything.

This is FODA, the Fear of Doing Anything. It would be best if you learned to be decisive. Here are four ways to deal with FOBO and not get caught in the trap of FODA:

·         The Ask and Watch method. Patrick McGinnis says to whittle your decision to two options. Assign each item to either the left or right side of your watch. Look down and see where the second hand is at the moment. Taking the final decision when you have two good options out of your control releases you from doubt.

·         Criteria method. Create a clear criterion that works for you. Mine are the Five F’s: Faith, Family, Friends, Fitness, and Finances. Score requests on your time against your list of criteria.

·         The Innovation = Ranking method. With innovation, use your funnel and ranking process to create a list of “next best ideas.” These are the ideas based on their ranking score from the FIRE framework. With the ranked lists of your ideas, force a decision that says something like each quarter, and we will fund the idea with the highest score.  

·         The Trust but Verify method. Apply the old Ronald Reagan maxim, “Trust your decision but verify.” If the decision is not delivering the result you expected, then adjust.  

These four ways to deal with FOBO will help you be aware of your FODA and change.  We will never have perfect information and, therefore, will never make the ideal decision.  So, make your decision and move on.  

Returning to our best of Killer Innovations series, we dive into the importance of reading for the innovator and some stimulating books to stir up your creativity.  

Building a library of inspiration in your innovation studio ensures you have a ready source of ideas. This inspiration library can come in the form of a collection of innovative books. I am a visual learner, so reading books is where I often find my inspiration. I will walk you through some essential books and explain why I value them.

My Design Innovation Books

The first book is "Frank Lloyd Wright: A Visual Encyclopedia." I grew up in Chicago, where the author started and became famous. Personally, this book reminds me to create my style. Frank Lloyd Wright separated himself from others. He developed his style and put a different spin on the design of his buildings.

The next book is called "A Pattern Language" by a professor at UC Berkeley, Christopher Alexander. Used by the original Sims game developers, the author breaks down patterns found by building houses, cities, and other buildings. While you can't apply what is in this book and apply it directly to a product or service, the book teaches an important idea. You can generate a certain feeling or experience through your patterns and designs.

"Designing Interactions" by Bill Moggridge is the third innovation book in my library of inspiration. The author focuses on designing experiences and offers important insights into the origins of Google and others.

The fourth book on my list touches on what to do with design, where problems can occur, and how to avoid them. It is "The Universal Principles of Design" by William Lidwell.

My Creative Innovation Books

The fifth book is "Thinker Toys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques" by Michael Michalko. In my opinion, this is a book that every innovator should have. The book brings together tools, approaches, ways to brainstorm, uses of SCAMPER, etc., that are very useful for innovators. Pretty much anything that Michael puts out, I buy.

Another book is "Six Thinking Hats" by Dr. Edward de Bono." His TV show on PBS introduced me to the innovation and creativity space when I was a kid. Over six or seven shows, Dr. de Bono, taught viewers about unleashing their creativity, which sparked something inside me. The book is a great reminder to change your perspective and keep a fresh mind and is a great piece to have in your library of inspiration.

Fun Books I Keep

Now I will share with you some fun books I keep that make me laugh. The first is "The World's Worst Inventions: The Craziest Gadgets and Machines Ever Made" by Jack Watkins. This book discusses some inventions that have been deemed stupid by many. Ironically, some of these inventions have gone on to be successful after this book was published.

The next book is "Fail Harder: Ridiculous Illustrations of Epic Fails" by Failblog.org Community. This book humorously discusses human failings and reminds us of our human nature.