Who are your innovators?

I once had a chance to meet and talk with the late W. Edwards Deming. Dr. Deming was one of the world’s preeminent quality gurus, and author of the bellwether book, Out of the Crisis. This was years ago, and I was young and eager to learn. He lamented the fear he found among employees in many organizations. (One of Deming’s famous 14 points for total quality management was to “drive out fear.”) I nodded in agreement, but I had little experience to relate to what he was saying. To be candid, it seemed a bit dramatic.

I’m not proud that it took me three decades to fully grasp what he was saying. Countless studies, focus groups and conversations later, I get it. Many employees see innovation as risky. Innovation is a cool word. But at its heart is change—doing things differently.

In some cases, it’s shot down subtly. Mention a new idea, and your manager might respond with a question: “Isn’t billing due in three days?” Or an unconvincing, “Sounds good, we’ll have to take a look.” A colleague might chuckle, “We’ve never done it THAT way.” In many cases, the organization’s top leadership is 100 percent behind innovation—but they are unaware of how it plays out with managers, supervisors and employees in the ranks.

Innovation, the late Peter Drucker points out in his landmark book, The Discipline of Innovation, is the “effort to create purposeful, focused change in an enterprise’s economic or social potential.” He adds that it’s different than other disciplines. You hire accountants for accounting, marketers for marketing, and lawyers for your legal department. But where are your innovators? Your employees! Innovation comes not from genius or exceptional talent, Drucker says, but from a “conscious, purposeful search for innovative opportunities.”...Read more