What prevents great ideas from making it to the market? A new study finds that the culprit is a lack of communication. It shows the most effective way for a leader to realign his company is to encourage open and honest conversations about any barriers the organization is facing. This requires management to look at the roles various parts of the business and change the way employees interact.
The author offers some tips on fostering better communication:
- Advocate, inquire, and repeat.
Executives need not only to defend their initiative but also to find out what others think. Indeed, the two activities should be closely linked. To effect innovation, a leader must advocate, then inquire, and continue to repeat these actions as necessary.
- Cut to the chase.
All too often, leaders become mired in mundane business details and lose sight of the issues that will guarantee overall success. Leaders must ask themselves, "Do we have a coherent and distinctive innovation strategy that key managers believe in? Do we have the capabilities to execute? Is our leadership effective?"
- Be open and inclusive.
Several levels of management across important functions and value-chain activities must be part of the conversation, and leaders need to keep everyone three to four levels below them informed about what they've learned, and what changes they're planning.
- Strive for honesty alongside low risk.
By encouraging honesty, then rewarding it, leaders can demonstrate to all levels of the organization that candor is valued. Once a leader is able to address the real issues facing innovation, issues that could only have been unearthed through truthful give-and-take can be rapidly and effectively addressed.
Was any of your company's innovations kept from hitting the market? What was the reason? And how do you think the problem should be fixed?
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Recent Comments | 2 Total
July 22, 2004 at 11:23am by Prashant
Easier than said, it requires greater attitude and willingness to implement the suggested measures.
July 22, 2004 at 11:43am by Roger Smith
We find that people who are capable of great innovations are not necessarily capable of carrying those through the organization. In many cases, the innovator may also be a great motivator for the idea, eager to preach it to everyone who will listen. But moving an innovation through and into an existing organization requires a lot of gritty work. It requires talking with people we disagree - usually because they prefer to keep things the same. It requires paperwork-paperwork-paperwork, appointments that are difficult to schedule, and contorting through wickets. Worst of all, the innovation will change shape as it moves through these. The Innovator/Motivator often gets mad and opts out of the task along the way. He/she needs help from someone who is less personnally invested in the idea and who can handle it more objectively.
If an organization can avoid innovation, it will. That is why successful innovation is always championed and supported from the top. It is the only way to get the organization's attention.