Unreasonable Leaders matter! : In the book 'The Power of Unreasonable People - How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World' authors Elkington and Hartigan starts with a quote from George Bernard Shaw: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." History has proved many times that ‘unreasonable leaders’ are ‘unreasonable innovators’.
Being unreasonable is different from mere ‘dreaming’ or ‘demanding’. The latest example is the 1 lakh car project of Ratan Tata the ‘unreasonable leader’.
When Kennedy made his famous 1961 speech "I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth”, many called him a lunatic but he persisted and convinced the congress to sink more than $9 billion in 1960s dollars and won. It would also help if the vision is a compelling one like Grameen bank , One Laptop per Child (www.laptop.org/) or a car for one lakh.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Perspective # 11 - God is in ‘structures’
God is in ‘structures’: In India though there are few one off business model innovations (Aravind Eye Hospital etc.) we have far to go w.r.t Innovation. Though we all love to believe the perception that China is the factory of the world and India is going to be the laboratory of the world, data does not support this theory.
As per CII’s National Innovation Mission Report, released in May 2007 in India, 2000 patents were approved versus over 100,000 for China. Also, India’s record for new designs was 39 versus 53,000 for China. According to World Bank, China scores 4.74 in Innovative Index, while India scores only 3.72. The UN report says that China is spending 1.5% of its gross domestic product on R&D invesment, twice that of India.The jury is still out but all the stats as of now - Patents, citation analysis, university rankings etc. shows that we are a Innovation laggard.
Prof Vijay Govindarajan, the widely acclaimed Innovation Guru attributes little of India Inc’s current success to Innovation. he says “For the last 15 years, Indian industry has grown merely by sucking out inefficency.To me, that game is now over…looking to the future, our innovation gap is bigger than our efficiency gap” .
They say the world is flat but why Indian IT companies fail to create a YouTube or MySpace? Why don’t Indian Professors come out with business concepts like Blue Ocean Strategy? Why there are no Indian Pharma discoveries like Viagra? Why our doctors are not creating breakthroughs like Emotional Intelligence theory? Why our business journalists are not coming up with concepts like ‘the long tail’?
Why are we great followers? – Kamagra was launched by Ajanta Pharma as soon as Viagra was launched. Similarly ‘rediff i-share’ and ‘big adda’ came up after Orkut’s success. ‘It happens only in Silicon Valley’ is the usual excuse, but what about Skype which is from Luxembourg or Pokemon? or Manga the Japanese comic trip which is a hit globally?
Another excuse is about the ‘huge money spend on research’, but what about Facebook which was created by a 23 yr old college kid and is now worth jaw dropping USD 15 Billion?
The answer is not ‘culture’ but may point out to ‘structures’. It is our ‘structures’ - Incentives, SOPs, Org Charts, Reporting, Performance metrics etc. and not ‘culture’ that stifles Innovation. ‘structures’ and ‘culture’ need to complement. Look at the IDEO office or Bangalore Philips Innovation campus which is designed to stoke innovation. Look at Google’s employee screening process to tap innovation talent and the 20% idea time off for employees.
R&D spending to annual sales of Pfizer, Merck etc. exceed 20% - these are strong hard to ignore ‘structural messages’ which will push the organization's propensity for innovation. ‘Structures’ are great behavior shapers - How on earth can you not hit blockbuster drugs if you spend 20% of your turnover on R&D? Many organizations put too much focus and energy on creating the ‘innovation culture’ without tampering with our good old sacred ‘structures’.
When Krishna Bharat of Google using his 20% time-off created 'Google News' the Print Journalism industry was scared, imagine the disruption if the hundreds of Krishna’s and Bharat’s within our Billion $ software outfits who are tied up by structural chains wake up?
As per CII’s National Innovation Mission Report, released in May 2007 in India, 2000 patents were approved versus over 100,000 for China. Also, India’s record for new designs was 39 versus 53,000 for China. According to World Bank, China scores 4.74 in Innovative Index, while India scores only 3.72. The UN report says that China is spending 1.5% of its gross domestic product on R&D invesment, twice that of India.The jury is still out but all the stats as of now - Patents, citation analysis, university rankings etc. shows that we are a Innovation laggard.
Prof Vijay Govindarajan, the widely acclaimed Innovation Guru attributes little of India Inc’s current success to Innovation. he says “For the last 15 years, Indian industry has grown merely by sucking out inefficency.To me, that game is now over…looking to the future, our innovation gap is bigger than our efficiency gap” .
They say the world is flat but why Indian IT companies fail to create a YouTube or MySpace? Why don’t Indian Professors come out with business concepts like Blue Ocean Strategy? Why there are no Indian Pharma discoveries like Viagra? Why our doctors are not creating breakthroughs like Emotional Intelligence theory? Why our business journalists are not coming up with concepts like ‘the long tail’?
Why are we great followers? – Kamagra was launched by Ajanta Pharma as soon as Viagra was launched. Similarly ‘rediff i-share’ and ‘big adda’ came up after Orkut’s success. ‘It happens only in Silicon Valley’ is the usual excuse, but what about Skype which is from Luxembourg or Pokemon? or Manga the Japanese comic trip which is a hit globally?
Another excuse is about the ‘huge money spend on research’, but what about Facebook which was created by a 23 yr old college kid and is now worth jaw dropping USD 15 Billion?
The answer is not ‘culture’ but may point out to ‘structures’. It is our ‘structures’ - Incentives, SOPs, Org Charts, Reporting, Performance metrics etc. and not ‘culture’ that stifles Innovation. ‘structures’ and ‘culture’ need to complement. Look at the IDEO office or Bangalore Philips Innovation campus which is designed to stoke innovation. Look at Google’s employee screening process to tap innovation talent and the 20% idea time off for employees.
R&D spending to annual sales of Pfizer, Merck etc. exceed 20% - these are strong hard to ignore ‘structural messages’ which will push the organization's propensity for innovation. ‘Structures’ are great behavior shapers - How on earth can you not hit blockbuster drugs if you spend 20% of your turnover on R&D? Many organizations put too much focus and energy on creating the ‘innovation culture’ without tampering with our good old sacred ‘structures’.
When Krishna Bharat of Google using his 20% time-off created 'Google News' the Print Journalism industry was scared, imagine the disruption if the hundreds of Krishna’s and Bharat’s within our Billion $ software outfits who are tied up by structural chains wake up?
Monday, November 5, 2007
Perspective # 10 - MGR style Positive Lateral thinking
MGR style Positive Lateral thinking: Many inventions today happens due to lateral thinking of employees.
Let us look at the example of Pfizer’s anti cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor that has annual sales exceeding US $10 Billion. Many competitors including many in India are working on formulations to reduce LDL (bad cholesterol). A small firm called Kos Pharmaceuticals worked on a different model – they worked on formulations to elevate HDL (good cholesterol) instead of working on reducing LDL (bad cholesterol) and struck gold. Their product Niaspan is now FDA approved and the company valuation is sky rocketing – thanks to thinking differently.
Lateral ideas are evident in today’s Web 2.0 stars like YouTube the free video sharing site or Social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace whose valuations are zooming. Nearly $6 million worth of virtual currency changed hands in Second Life, the virtual world in June 2006.
Prof. Govindarajan who authored the bestseller "10 Rules for Strategic Innovators" (published by Harvard Business School Press) has a nice analogy from Tamil cinema of his youth “Think of the scene where the villain ties down MGR, kidnaps the heroine and escapes in a Mercedes. He is chased by a police van, which follows the same rules as the car, but is much slower…By the time MGR gets up, he is 30 minutes late. He knows he can’t play by the same rules, so he jumps on a horse, bypasses the roads and goes after the villain. That’s thinking differently,”.
The case of washing machines used to make Lassi in Punjab is well known. Think about the possibilities if we think lateral, particularly ‘Positive lateral thinking’. Lateral thinking innovation sometimes is misguided and results in IP violations, reverse engineering etc. Varanasi is the largest consumer of condoms in the country – to polish the silk and lubricate the hand and power looms! India and elsewhere Cough syrups are replacing good old Alcohol.! The annual study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse , conducted by the University of Michigan found that as many as one in every 14 high school seniors said they used cold medicine “fairly recently” to get high. Another study found that 36 million Americans have abused prescription drugs at least once in their lifetime! Too much lateral thinking :)
The challenge is to make all imbibe the message of the need to think lateral in a positive way.
Let us look at the example of Pfizer’s anti cholesterol blockbuster Lipitor that has annual sales exceeding US $10 Billion. Many competitors including many in India are working on formulations to reduce LDL (bad cholesterol). A small firm called Kos Pharmaceuticals worked on a different model – they worked on formulations to elevate HDL (good cholesterol) instead of working on reducing LDL (bad cholesterol) and struck gold. Their product Niaspan is now FDA approved and the company valuation is sky rocketing – thanks to thinking differently.
Lateral ideas are evident in today’s Web 2.0 stars like YouTube the free video sharing site or Social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace whose valuations are zooming. Nearly $6 million worth of virtual currency changed hands in Second Life, the virtual world in June 2006.
Prof. Govindarajan who authored the bestseller "10 Rules for Strategic Innovators" (published by Harvard Business School Press) has a nice analogy from Tamil cinema of his youth “Think of the scene where the villain ties down MGR, kidnaps the heroine and escapes in a Mercedes. He is chased by a police van, which follows the same rules as the car, but is much slower…By the time MGR gets up, he is 30 minutes late. He knows he can’t play by the same rules, so he jumps on a horse, bypasses the roads and goes after the villain. That’s thinking differently,”.
The case of washing machines used to make Lassi in Punjab is well known. Think about the possibilities if we think lateral, particularly ‘Positive lateral thinking’. Lateral thinking innovation sometimes is misguided and results in IP violations, reverse engineering etc. Varanasi is the largest consumer of condoms in the country – to polish the silk and lubricate the hand and power looms! India and elsewhere Cough syrups are replacing good old Alcohol.! The annual study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse , conducted by the University of Michigan found that as many as one in every 14 high school seniors said they used cold medicine “fairly recently” to get high. Another study found that 36 million Americans have abused prescription drugs at least once in their lifetime! Too much lateral thinking :)
The challenge is to make all imbibe the message of the need to think lateral in a positive way.
Perspective # 9 - The whole is greater than the sum of the parts
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts: Gone are the days where a single idea in the R&D lab turned into a blockbuster. Those were the magical days, many solutions waiting to address human needs! For example when Willis Carrier invented the 30 tonne ‘Apparatus for treating air' it was a big hit and the ‘air-conditioning’ industry was born.
Today one needs to have multiple inventions, networks, partners, human factor experts, designers and even ethnographers to ensure that an idea blooms and scales in the market place.
Look at the i-Pod – the amazing UI and miniature hard disk is only part of the story. Steve Jobs and team created the online business model (otherwise anti piracy media moguls would have killed the i-Pod just like they eliminated Napster), invested in ‘this is cool’ branding, integrated with iTunes software platform and build an ecosystem to ensure success.
Yes, there are iconic one man/woman show inventers like Richard Sapper (200+ inventions ranging from ThinkPad,Tizio Lamp to Mercedes rear view mirror) but they are a dying breed! In today’s’ networked economy it does not pay to be a stand alone hero. The Edison days are over.
Today one needs to have multiple inventions, networks, partners, human factor experts, designers and even ethnographers to ensure that an idea blooms and scales in the market place.
Look at the i-Pod – the amazing UI and miniature hard disk is only part of the story. Steve Jobs and team created the online business model (otherwise anti piracy media moguls would have killed the i-Pod just like they eliminated Napster), invested in ‘this is cool’ branding, integrated with iTunes software platform and build an ecosystem to ensure success.
Yes, there are iconic one man/woman show inventers like Richard Sapper (200+ inventions ranging from ThinkPad,Tizio Lamp to Mercedes rear view mirror) but they are a dying breed! In today’s’ networked economy it does not pay to be a stand alone hero. The Edison days are over.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Perspective # 8 - Show me the money
Show me the money: It is a common belief that employees come out with ideas only if the ‘what is in it for me’ aspect is taken care of. In other words offer carrots to employees that are usually a percentage of benefit accrued due to the Idea.
Often this arrangement backfires. It is usually hard for corporations to exactly measure the benefits and this can result in lot of heartburn. In fact there are many lawsuits filed in US over the ‘percentage dispute’ – a high profile case to quote involved an United Airlines employee suing the company, claiming that the percentage calculated was unfair and the case went on for 20 years.
Vijay Govindarajan in his book Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators warns that linking pay too closely to hard innovation measures may tempt managers to game the system. A metric such as the percentage of revenue from new products, for instance, can lead to incremental brand extensions rather than true breakthroughs.
In addition, innovation is such a murky process that targets are likely to change. To quote ‘Ideas are free’- "It is one thing to realize that employees don’t have to be bribed to give in ideas. But one might think that the prospect of getting a share of benefits from their ideas would only increase their natural motivation. In practice, most such schemes backfire. The more money a company dangles in front of its employees, the fewer ideas it gets, and more problems it creates for itself."
Often this arrangement backfires. It is usually hard for corporations to exactly measure the benefits and this can result in lot of heartburn. In fact there are many lawsuits filed in US over the ‘percentage dispute’ – a high profile case to quote involved an United Airlines employee suing the company, claiming that the percentage calculated was unfair and the case went on for 20 years.
Vijay Govindarajan in his book Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators warns that linking pay too closely to hard innovation measures may tempt managers to game the system. A metric such as the percentage of revenue from new products, for instance, can lead to incremental brand extensions rather than true breakthroughs.
In addition, innovation is such a murky process that targets are likely to change. To quote ‘Ideas are free’- "It is one thing to realize that employees don’t have to be bribed to give in ideas. But one might think that the prospect of getting a share of benefits from their ideas would only increase their natural motivation. In practice, most such schemes backfire. The more money a company dangles in front of its employees, the fewer ideas it gets, and more problems it creates for itself."
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Perspective # 7 - Innovation Tools
Innovation Tools: Many walk into the ‘tool’ trap, hoping that one can unleash creativity at workplace by buying a tool. As the saying goes ‘A fool with a tool is still a fool’.
If your creative arteries are clogged, tools cannot help. Tools can complement a thriving innovation culture but they can never be substitutes.
There are two broad categories of tools: Creativity tools and Idea management tools. Creativity tools are used to spark creativity and induce lateral thinking among employees. Examples are Bono Po, Mind Mapping, KAI, TRIZ and Stage-Gate. Idea management tools can help track and manage employees’ ideas till execution by providing progress dashboards. Enterprise idea management tools like Imaginitik or Energi™ can help manage employee ideas and are useful in managing large number of ideas across the enterprise. To reiterate, a tool can support the process of innovation but can never be the innovation.
If your creative arteries are clogged, tools cannot help. Tools can complement a thriving innovation culture but they can never be substitutes.
There are two broad categories of tools: Creativity tools and Idea management tools. Creativity tools are used to spark creativity and induce lateral thinking among employees. Examples are Bono Po, Mind Mapping, KAI, TRIZ and Stage-Gate. Idea management tools can help track and manage employees’ ideas till execution by providing progress dashboards. Enterprise idea management tools like Imaginitik or Energi™ can help manage employee ideas and are useful in managing large number of ideas across the enterprise. To reiterate, a tool can support the process of innovation but can never be the innovation.
Perspective # 6 - Volition pays
Volition pays: Another common perception is that innovation happens only when you have enough ‘think time’, are relaxed and have time to introspect. The stereotype of the relaxed R&D department reiterates this mental model.
It has been proven again and again that a sense of urgency and intrinsic motivation will accelerate innovation. The greatest innovations of the world have happened under acute pressure. Yes-necessity is the mother of invention. The best Russian literature emerged during the oppressed days!
In A bias for action Sumantra Ghosal and Heike Bruch introduce the concept of volition. They exhort us to ‘cross the Rubicon’, the threshold between simple motivation and true volition. That is when action happens.
Out of 2,600 people died at the 9/11 attacks 125 died at the impregnable Pentagon! In one of the worst forms of ‘criminal innovation’ of our lives, planes were transformed to guided missiles! Though there is a great report about this incident the simple answer lies in volition.
"It's a miracle in Pakistan, where we can't even make a bicycle chain, where we can't even make a sewing needle.” A.Q.Khan father of Pakistan atom bomb said. That is the power of volition. The power of mantras – the chants of 'atom bomb, atom bomb' on Pakistan National Day is so powerful enough to invent miracles!
Big money does not payoff always. Volition does.“Last year Microsoft invested in excess of $6.5 billion in R&D but we have not seen any game changing products yet!
It has been proven again and again that a sense of urgency and intrinsic motivation will accelerate innovation. The greatest innovations of the world have happened under acute pressure. Yes-necessity is the mother of invention. The best Russian literature emerged during the oppressed days!
In A bias for action Sumantra Ghosal and Heike Bruch introduce the concept of volition. They exhort us to ‘cross the Rubicon’, the threshold between simple motivation and true volition. That is when action happens.
Out of 2,600 people died at the 9/11 attacks 125 died at the impregnable Pentagon! In one of the worst forms of ‘criminal innovation’ of our lives, planes were transformed to guided missiles! Though there is a great report about this incident the simple answer lies in volition.
"It's a miracle in Pakistan, where we can't even make a bicycle chain, where we can't even make a sewing needle.” A.Q.Khan father of Pakistan atom bomb said. That is the power of volition. The power of mantras – the chants of 'atom bomb, atom bomb' on Pakistan National Day is so powerful enough to invent miracles!
Big money does not payoff always. Volition does.“Last year Microsoft invested in excess of $6.5 billion in R&D but we have not seen any game changing products yet!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Perspective # 5 - Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate
Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate: Traditionally innovation is the ‘job’ of the R&D department. Frederick Taylor advocated 100 years ago that it was management's job to ‘think’ and the worker's job to ‘do’. Though this would have made sense 100 years ago, in today’s competitive world every employee should be the listening post for new ideas and opportunities.
Many of us also believe in the ‘hunters’ and ‘farmers’ concept. Hunters are categorized as people who welcome challenges and enjoy the thrill of identifying new opportunities. Farmers on the other hand are characterized as people whose forte is the maintenance and growth of existing customers. These characterizations are terribly simplistic and unfair. This perspective has been the basis for the policies, structures, and operating practices of most business organizations that need change.
The challenge here is to create an Innovation culture that spans the entire company. Any employee should be able to pickup market cues, collaborate across functions and make the innovation happen. Many organizations are waking up to the power of collaboration and are organizing face to face meetings across functions.
Southwest Airlines recently gathered people from its in-flight, ground, maintenance and dispatch operations. For six months they met for 10 hours a week, brainstorming ideas to address a broad issue: What are the highest-impact changes we can make to our aircraft operations? Innovation cannot happen and be sustained just by one department or one set of workers; it is a collaborative output between the ‘hunters’ and the ‘farmers’.
Many of us also believe in the ‘hunters’ and ‘farmers’ concept. Hunters are categorized as people who welcome challenges and enjoy the thrill of identifying new opportunities. Farmers on the other hand are characterized as people whose forte is the maintenance and growth of existing customers. These characterizations are terribly simplistic and unfair. This perspective has been the basis for the policies, structures, and operating practices of most business organizations that need change.
The challenge here is to create an Innovation culture that spans the entire company. Any employee should be able to pickup market cues, collaborate across functions and make the innovation happen. Many organizations are waking up to the power of collaboration and are organizing face to face meetings across functions.
Southwest Airlines recently gathered people from its in-flight, ground, maintenance and dispatch operations. For six months they met for 10 hours a week, brainstorming ideas to address a broad issue: What are the highest-impact changes we can make to our aircraft operations? Innovation cannot happen and be sustained just by one department or one set of workers; it is a collaborative output between the ‘hunters’ and the ‘farmers’.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
